


CHANGING

by uglygayemo



Category: Z Nation (TV)
Genre: 10k is the first blend, Cassandra died pre-fic, F/M, Hate to Love, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-05-18 10:48:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 31,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19333027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uglygayemo/pseuds/uglygayemo
Summary: In the Zombocalypse, you learn that being bitten means you die. 10k got bitten, he was supposed to die.But then he got bitten again, and it was due to that second bite that he survived.





	1. THE BEGINNING OF THE END

**Author's Note:**

> I've seen a lot of fics using the prompt that Murphy bites 10k and I really wanted to write one myself, so here you go!

It started out small, unnoticeable. So unnoticeable, in fact, that maybe there wasn't anything wrong at all. But 10k was hyperaware of every slight change, so even the smallest of alterations would be picked up on.

Or so he thought. Because, in reality, while 10k plucked up observation after observation of a slight shift within his body, thinking it would mean his world would be crashing down around him- nothing was really happening at all.

He would bring these 'changes' up to the group- _My head is hurting_ \- only for it to be followed with a chorus of _Dehydration. Sleep deprivation. Starvation. Stress_.

He would try again. _My skin itches_ \- but he wouldn't get too far before another symphony sounded- _Mosquitos. Dirt. Scratchy clothing. Eczema._

For every concern 10k raised, the group had bountiful reasons as to why he was feeling them, all far less sinister than the one 10k's mind went straight to.

It became almost like a game for the others, a game of 'What Is This A Symptom Of?'. Murphy even started to count points, which made 10k snap out of his breakdown for a few seconds to kick the back of his seat.

_But what if you're wrong?_

_We're not._

No matter how many times they went through this within the drive through town, 10k was never sure. He never believed. He couldn't stop the fear creeping in his bones and stealing all logic from his brain. His brain- brains, oh god, _brains_.

He let out a shuddered breath. "I don't wanna eat brains-"

Though the boy's voice trembled with worry, he was met with more than a few chuckles. "Kid, you're not gonna start eating brains." Murphy's tone was patronizing and drawn out.

10k sat up in his seat and narrowed his eyes at the headrest in front of him. "You don't know that!"

"10k," A voice from beside him reached out and he looked over. "You'll be fine." Doc gave him a smile. "We think." He added, causing 10k's eyes to widen slightly and his brows to crease with even more tension.

"Doc quit freaking him out." Addy turned from where she sat and looked at the raven-haired boy. "Don't worry. If you start turning blue, I'll pike ya." She grinned playfully and raised her bat.

"Hey!" Murphy glared and Doc laughed.

"Addy!" Warren hissed and glanced at her. She rolled her eyes but sat back in her seat.

"You guys are making me feel worse." 10k closed his eyes and shook his head. "My heart's beating fast-"

"Anxiety!"

"Anx- Damn it, Doc, I was gonna say that!" Murphy growled and looked at the older man over his shoulder.

"You snooze, you lose, my blue pal."

While the rest of the group talked and laughed between them, 10k reverted back to silence as he looked out the dirtied window. As he stared out at the fast-moving trees, his hand unconsciously moved up until he was covering the bite mark on his shoulder. Even lightly hovering his fingers over it made the memories come flooding back to him-

 

_"10k WATCH OUT!"_

_He whipped around upon hearing the scream, eyes widening as he saw the herd of Z's heading toward him. This wouldn't be so worrying if it weren't for the fact he had no weapons on him._

_Looking around, he picked up a fairly large and jagged rock from the edge of the stream, testing the weight of it in his hand while the rotting corpses made their way closer to him. Just as the first was at arms length, 10k brought the rock crashing down against its head._

_One down, two to go._

_He picked up another rock, taking a step back so his feet hit the cool water. Then, he got an idea. He moved further into the shallow stream, watching the two Zombies stumble as their feet got caught on the rocks. One fell forward and face-planted the water. 10k took his opportunity and smashed its head with the rock._

_Two down, one to-_

_10k cried out as he felt pain in his shoulder. He had been bitten. Panic and adrenaline surged through him and he tried to tear himself out of the Z's grasp- out of his_ mouth _. He could faintly hear the others rushing toward him, finally, Doc had managed to find them and bring them to his aid._

_He continued to shove at the Zombie, slipping on a smooth rock and falling backwards into the stream. He hit his head harshly and gasped for air but took in a mouthful of water, frantically searching for a loose rock to use as a weapon. He couldn't find any and his vision was starting to black. He tried to breathe again, but still, no air._

_He cried out again when he felt even more pain as the Z was ripped off him, dragging its teeth across more of his skin. He was pulled out from the stream jerkily, spluttering and choking on water while trying to get air._

_He saw his saviour through blurred eyes but he didn't have enough time to register who it was who pulled him out before he felt himself being bitten again, this time near his neck. The pain with this bite was sharper and accompanied with a rush of strong, incomprehensible emotions that swept through his body._

_He gasped a last time, eyes impossibly wide, and let out a loud scream before passing out._

 

"10k!" He felt himself being shaken and he opened his eyes to see Warren in front of him.

"Huh? What?" He looked around and saw he was the only one left in the car.

"You fell asleep, you okay?" She rose a brow and stepped to the side, allowing 10k to get out.

10k furrowed his brows, he couldn't remember feeling tired. He must have zoned out so much he nodded off.

When 10k didn't answer, she asked again, this time with more concern. "You okay?"

"What? Yeah, yeah." He stepped out from the car suddenly and shut the door behind him.

With a hesitant nod, Warren turned her attention to the rest of the group. "Alright, we're out of gas. It'll be getting dark soon, I say we go on foot and find somewhere to camp for the night. Preferably somewhere where we can find some food, we're getting low." They all started walking.

"What I'd give to get some pizza delivered right about now," Addy groaned with a hand on her stomach. There were hums in agreement.

"Stringy cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms-"

"Mushrooms? You gotta be kidding me, Doc, mushrooms on pizza?" Murphy grimaced. "It's not supposed to be healthy! No veggies!"

"Mushrooms aren't vegetables." 10k sounded.

Murphy turned toward him and fake gasped. "He did something other than complain! It's a miracle!"

Before 10k could reply, Doc continued talking. "It wasn't those types of mushrooms, anyway, if you catch my drift." He started laughing.

Murphy rolled his eyes and slowed his walking, waiting until he was in-line with 10k before he slung an arm over his shoulders. He either didn't hear that 10k hissed as his hand brushed his bite, or he just didn't care. "How 'bout you, kid? What's your fave pizza?"

10k shrugged Murphy's arm off of him and sped up so he could get closer to Doc. He ignored his question completely.

"What? _Now_ you're silent?" He scoffed and looked over to Warren, who was giving him a look. "Kids." He rolled his eyes with a shrug.

The gang trudged through the abandoned town with minimal struggle. They came across a corner store with only half it's stock either damaged or taken, so they shoved anything good in their bags and wandered off toward the houses.

They encountered some Z's but 10k didn't have to worry about them, Addy seemed to have it handled. Soon, they found a decent-looking house to put up in. It had a fence around the front so they wouldn't have to worry about anything wandering in and eating them while they slept.

There were two bedrooms upstairs and they decided to split them like usual- Warren and Addy have one room and Murphy, Doc, and 10k have the other.

Before they headed to bed, though, they all gathered in the living room. Addy lay on the couch, reading some worn book she had found upstairs. Warren was sat outside on the porch, sipping a drink and keeping watch for trouble. Doc and Murphy were talking about something quietly between them. 10k was sat on the floor, leaning his head against the couch Addy lay on.

He let out a heavy breath and closed his eyes. He needed to relax. All he felt was worry, stress, and fear. And some leftover pain from the bites. As soon as he thought of the bites, an image flashed behind his eyes, making him gasp.

Addy lifted her head and put the book down, glancing at her friend. "10k?" She asked softly. No reply.

Instead, 10k's breathing quickened and his hands clenched. Addy could see that his eyes were moving despite them being closed.

"Warren?" She called out, sitting up and getting onto the floor next to 10k.

"What? What's happening?" Warren asked, hand over her gun as she walked inside.

"It's 10k, somethings wrong." She looked up at her with wide eyes.

Murphy and Doc noticed now and they, too, made their way over.

"Hey, kid?" Doc tried worriedly. "Kid, you alright?"

"Is he asleep?" Murphy questioned.

"No- I don't know, 10k!" Addy cupped his face and forcefully opened his eyes, though they didn't seem to register her at all and kept moving side to side.

"That doesn't look good." Murphy scowled.

Doc pushed his way forward. "Let me try something-" He took a breath and pulled his arm back then slapped 10k across the face hard.

10k gasped and his eyes snapped open wide, his body arched and he scrambled to get to his feet. "Zombies!" He called out, causing the others to be on alert. The looked around but saw nothing.

"Calm down, you're alright!" Doc reached his hands out.

"Zombies!" 10k backed away and fell backwards onto the couch. He then tried to crawl off of it, toward the door.

"There's no Z's!" Warren quickly moved to block the door. It was dark out now and they couldn't risk losing 10k while he was in this frenzied state.

"Don't bite me!" He choked out as the others closed in on him. 10k curled up against the wall, shielding his face with his arms and pulling his knees to his chest.

"Wait! Back off!" Warren held her arm out, stopping Murphy, Addy, and Doc from getting any closer. "He's hallucinating. He thinks we're Z's."

"Z's? us? I can understand Murphy but, _us_?" Doc teased, earning a glare from Murphy which he ignored. "Hey, kid, it's okay, we're not gonna hurt ya."

After getting no reaction, Warren sighed. "Let's give him some space. He's been through a lot." There were nods and a few mumbles, and everyone backed away and continued with what they had been doing previously.

10k stayed where he was, cowering with his eyes screwed shut, for almost an hour. Then, he slowly lowered his arms and looked around. People pretended not to notice, tried to carry on with whatever they were doing, but they couldn't help but sneak glances at him.

10k stood up, leaning against the wall and taking a deep breath. Then he pushed himself off the wall and started to walk toward the stairs. "I'm gonna go sleep." He mumbled, earning a nod and a smile from most of the gang.

As he creaked up the steps, 10k ran a hand through his hair. He was sure now, something was happening. He wasn't just overreacting, he was _changing_. Lucky for him, he was still in the early stages. He could catch it before it became out of control, whatever _it_ was.

He moved into one of the bedrooms and shut the door. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to a smashed mirror that hung on the wall. He pulled down his shirt so his shoulder was exposed. There, in all its ugly glory, was a Zombie bite.

He should be dead.

But he isn't

He should be a Zombie.

But he isn't.

So does that mean he's alive? He's human? No, he doesn't feel like he is.

The bite was healing, fast. Far faster than a human would if humans could even heal from a Zombie bite. He covered up his shoulder and stretched out the other side of his shirt collar, turning his head to the side so he exposed his neck.

There was the other bite, the bite the saved him, or so he was told. 10k wasn't sure he'd been saved. After you get bit by a Z, you don't get 'saved', you get _mercied_. That was supposed to be the only option you had. Your chance to get peace.

But 10k didn't get that chance, instead, he's become an experiment.

What happens when a Zombie-Human hybrid bites a human who has been bitten by a Z?

He supposes they'll find out soon enough. They hadn't stepped into unknown territory, they had _crashed_ down the door and fell in screaming. 10k didn't want this, he would have begged them to just let him die if he had only been conscious. He didn't want to be _this_.

He reached up and faintly trailed his fingers over the bite on his neck. He felt something intense inside of him and it left him panting and falling to his knees as he caught his breath.

Something in his mind told him to turn and he looked over to see Murphy standing in the doorway, staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

Before he knew it, he fell the rest of the way forward and passed out onto the floor.


	2. TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably mention, in this universe, Cassandra died when she got her leg infection after the S1E11 'Sisters Of Mercy', therefore, the crew aren't aware of what happens when Murphy bites someone.

When 10k awoke next, he was laying in bed with something wet on his forehead. He blinked his eyes open and reached up to examine what it was that was on his head. It was a cloth. 

Doc walked into the room and did a silent cheer when he saw 10k awake. He sat on the edge of the bed and took the cloth out of his hands, putting it back onto his forehead. "How you feelin', slugger?"

10k went to speak but found his mouth was uncomfortably dry. He looked to his side and saw a half-empty glass of water on the bedside table. He reached for it but Doc beat him to it, picking up the glass and tilting it while holding 10k's head up so he could drink. 

After putting the glass back down, he asked again. "How's the head?" 

"Hurts." He spoke quietly and slowly sat up, holding the cloth to his forehead so it wouldn't fall.

"Yeah, I bet, you smacked it pretty hard when you fell. We all heard it from downstairs!" 

10k furrowed his brows, ignoring the twinge of pain that came from the action. He remembered falling, but that was back in the stream. "I fell again? Here?"

Doc mirrored his confused expression. "You fell _before_? Sheesh, no wonder you were out so long. Multiple knocks to the head ain't good, kid." He got up from the bed and walked over to where his bag was on a chair. 

"What do you mean 'no wonder you were out so long'? How long was I out?" 10k swung his legs over to the side of the bed, putting the damp cloth on the table next to the water.

"Uh," Doc started, rummaging through his bag and taking out a small baggie. "'Couple days, had us worried. Thought you might turn," He handed 10k a small pill and passed him the water.

Without asking what it was, 10k put the pill in his mouth and swallowed it with the water. He trusted Doc. "You thought I'd turn?"

Doc nodded with a frown, ruffling 10k's hair softly before making a face and wiping his hand on his shirt. "Well, you kept passing out since you got bit, we didn't know _what_ was happening. But then we checked your bite, just to be sure, and.." He let out a sigh then continued to speak, but 10k didn't hear the rest of his words.

10k moved his head to the side slightly, his hearing focused on something else, something from outside. He couldn't make out what he was hearing, it was muffled and sounded like he was underwater, but something was telling him to _go to it_. 

"Kid?" Doc asked, brows knitting together as he watched 10k get up off the bed seemingly with no problems. Considering he had been passed out for three days after multiple head traumas, that shouldn't be possible.

10k walked out of the bedroom, Doc's concern having gone unnoticed. He walked down the steps and through the living room, only stopping when he stood on the porch steps. It was then that he blinked his eyes back into focus and he surveyed his surroundings, confused at the change of scenery. "Wha-"

"You okay?" A voice came from in front of him, he looked up to see Warren and Murphy stood just inside of the fence, they appeared to have been piking Z's who wandered too close. Warren's expression was one of concern whereas Murphy's held something that resembled shock. 

Before he could think of that too much, Doc came down the steps behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's get you back inside." He patted his shoulder and turned 10k around, leading him inside and sitting him down on the couch. "You wanna tell me what just happened? You looked like you were in some kind of trance."

10k rested his elbows on his knees and scrubbed his hands down his face, letting out a breath. "I don't know. I just, I felt like I needed to go there.. I don't know why."

Warren stepped into the room. "We good?" She asked, looking to Doc rather than 10k, Doc nodded and Warren returned it. "Good, 'cause we gotta leave today. We've stayed here too long." 

"Got it, Chief." 

Not long after she said that, the gang gathered their belongings and they headed out. They met Addy near the edge of town. She had found a decent-working car and stocked them up on gas.

"Hey, bud." She smiled when she saw 10k. "Glad to see you moving again." She patted his back before getting into the car. 

"Yeah." He mumbled with a small smile. Whatever Doc had given him must've worked, his head no longer felt like it was being crushed. 

As everyone got into the car, his mind wandered back to earlier. Doc had been talking, talking about him- about his bite. 10k glanced around the car from where he sat in the trunk. Once he was sure nobody was looking at him, he took his arm out from his shirt and inspected his bite. 

He had to fight back a gasp. It was _healed_. Well, almost healed. He hesitated before touching it lightly. He squeezed his eyes shut and lowered his head, the image of the Zombie that had bitten him plaguing his mind. 

But as soon as it was there, it was gone, replaced by the picture of a blurred Muphy pulling him out and biting him. After then, nothing.

He let out a breath and opened his eyes, pulling his hand away. He hoped he wouldn't have to relive that every time he touched it. It was bad enough that it happened once, it was like torture have to go through it even more times.

Curiosity got the better of him and he checked his other bite as well as he could in the reflection of the window. That one seemed to be less healed. He wasn't sure if that made him feel better or not. He wanted neither of them to be visible.

He felt eyes on him and he turned to see Murphy looking at him. 10k quickly sat back down and put his arm back into his shirt. " _What_?" The singular word had bite to it, enough to make Murphy raise his hands in mock surrender and face forward again.

Moving so he was half-laying down, 10k settled into the small trunk and closed his eyes again. He seemed to be sleeping a lot more than usual, but he just felt exhausted. 

Or maybe he didn't. Maybe he just didn't want to be awake to see himself becoming less and less human. Something in his mind told him he was overreacting, that barely anything was different, but he ignored it. He _felt_ different.

Murphy watched 10k while he slept, eyes slightly narrowed and brows creased together. He was thinking. Kinda. In reality, _he_ wasn't thinking, but _10k_ was.. and Murphy.. he swore that he could _hear_ it. Some of it.

It was faint and jumbled, and he barely even heard a full comprehensible word, but he heard _something_. Like how he heard Zombies, he heard 10k. He wondered what this meant.

He tried to focus, really listen, but with the loud engine of the beat-up car, and Doc's incessant need to start singing, he couldn't make anything out. The last guy he bit didn't turn, that's the whole reason he even bit 10k in the first place, he thought he could stop him from turning, that maybe this whole 'cure' thing was right.

But he was starting to feel the same _tug_ to 10k that he felt with Z's, and he didn't have to be the smartest guy in the room to figure out that that probably isn't a good thing. Still, he kept this information to himself.

Grumbling, he turned around in his seat and shuffled up against the car door. "Can you PUH-LEASE shut up?" He groaned, over-pronouncing the word to really get his annoyance across.

His complaint was met with a laugh and it made him glare at the man sat next to him. "What's wrong, Murph? Can't enjoy a little music?" Regardless, Doc stopped singing.

"I can't enjoy ' _music_ '-" He used air quotes. "-that sounds like Zombies _screaming_." Doc gaped at him, but he carried on. "And, trust me, I know what that sounds like. I'm _special_ , remember?"

"Harsh." Doc shook his head. "You know, I liked you a lot better when you weren't blue."

"So did I." Murphy rolled his eyes.

A bit later, the car came to a stop. Warren turned toward Addy and shook her awake slowly, a knowing smile on her lips. "Hey, Addy, look who it is." She nodded her head forwards.

Addy stirred awake and lifted her head. Her squinted eyes grew wide and she gasped, sitting up in her seat. "Mack!" She opened the door and got out of the car quickly, running around the front of the vehicle and throwing herself into her boyfriend's arms. Mack wrapped his arms around Addy and lifted her off the ground slightly, kissing her with a smile. 

Back inside the car, Doc spoke up. "Young love." He sighed happily.

"I'm gonna take the two lovebirds and see if we can find a bigger car nearby. Doc, you stay here and watch over 10k and Murphy, make sure he doesn't run off." 

"I doubt 10k could run too far before he passes out again." Murphy opened his door but stayed sat in the car.

"She wasn't talking about ten." Doc chuckled and got out of the car, walking to the back and opening the trunk. "Hey, kid, how you feelin'?" He asked, repeating the question everyone seemed to have kept asking him countless times over these past few days.

Both Doc and Murphy were peering down at 10k's sleeping body. They shared a look of unease. 

"Kid?" Doc tried again, carefully nudging him. He didn't even stir. "Not another mini-coma, come on, kid, we need you!"

"Uh, Doc?" Murphy caught his attention and pointed forward. 

Doc turned and reached for his weapon. "We got company," He steeled himself and forced himself toward the crowd of Z's heading to the car. He hit one, two, then dodged out the way of another and piked that one in the head too. "Come on, kid! I could use your help right about now!" He yelled as he kicked a Z that got too close away.

More Zombies soon joined the horde and Doc had to back away. He cursed as he realised his mistake, he was bringing them closer to Murphy and 10k.

"Uh," He glanced around and noticed a trash can that was turned on its side. Running over to it, he started banging it with his crowbar. "Here Zombie Zombie Zombies!" 

It worked, it drew them away from the car, but now they were speeding up and coming straight for Doc.

Murphy, who had been watching the whole thing, scoffed exasperatedly. "Good job, Doc! Now you're gonna get bitten and I'm gonna have to save you too!" He got out of the car and joined the group of Z's, walking to Doc.

"Hell no, man, keep your rotting teeth away from me!" Doc called out, waving his weapon as the undead got closer.

"'Rotting teeth'?!" Murphy spat, stopping walking and shaking his head. "You know, you oughta be kinder to people to who can _control_  Zombies." He narrowed his eyes and the Zombies snarled louder, their hands reaching out to grab Doc more determined.

"Murphy!" He yelped, jumping back as a hand grabbed his shirt. "Tell your friends to back off!"

Before Murphy could reply, there were gunshots and the Zombies started falling to the ground. Murphy turned to see Warren, Mack, and Addy jogging with their weapons raised to come help Doc. 

"What the hell, Murphy?!" Warren hissed, taking out her machete and stabbing a Zombie in the head.

"What?" He asked, standing to the side as the others killed off the Z's.

Once every Z was down, Warren stormed over to Murphy. "You could have gotten Doc killed!"

"He would've been fine!" He countered, scoffing at her overreaction. "I knew you guys were coming." He lied with a shrug.

Warren went to shove him back out of frustration but her wrist was caught before she touched him. Both Murphy and Warren twisted their heads to see 10k stood right next to them, gripping Warrens wrist in his hand.

He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, quickly and quietly, snuck up on them so they were unaware of his presence until that moment. 

Murphy was looking at him with a raised brow and they all shared the same baffled expression, though 10k looked more dazed. He dropped Warrens' arm and took a few steps back. "Sorry."

With a sigh, she shook her head and regained control over her emotions. "It's alright. Let's just get going before Murphy attracts more of his posse."

The rest of the group finally came closer and they all started walking together, Addy and Mack leading the way.

10k trailed behind the back of the pack, his face scrunched up as he thought about what had just happened. He had been asleep one second then awake and holding onto Warren the next. He hoped he wasn't blacking out now, he lost enough of his time to being unconscious.

As they trudged along the road, he heard a whisper. _Thanks_. He stopped in his tracks and whirled around in an attempt to locate who had spoken. He saw nobody.

"You coming, 10k?" Warren called out, she had turned to look at him.

10k glanced around again, then nodded and cleared his head of his suspicions, jogging slightly to catch up with his friends.


	3. MURPHY'S LAW

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought I might add some canon episodes in this too, but they will be altered so they work with my fics info and timeline.

The next day, the gang had a bigger car that gave them each enough space to themselves to feel comfortable. It was a change from them having been squished up against each other. They were all grateful for the space, especially now Mack had rejoined them.

They had come across a golf course and ran into some other survivors. All seemed well, they let them inside and even shared some of their rations. 

Warren was talking to a guy who seemed like the leader of the trio of strangers, but 10k wasn't focused enough to hear what she was saying. Instead, he was watching Murphy over on the course, a faint feeling of unease inside of him as he saw that he was so close to the Z's. He knew they wouldn't attack him, but that didn't wash his worry away completely.

After a few more minutes of conversation, they all headed inside the clubhouse. Aside from Doc, who stayed outside.

They were sat at a dining table, each one of them with a drink in front of them. Murphy seemed to waste no time before taking generous gulps of his drink, making a comment about how it was 'the good stuff', though 10k didn't quite know what he meant. The others sipped, clearly pacing himself.

The guy served 10k last and asked for his ID, staring at him for a beat before he smiled with a shake of his head, pouring him a glass too, though he gave him less than the others. 10k had only had a few sips of alcohol before, his dad only had some for special occasions Pre-Z, and it wasn't like there were many opportunities to get booze in the Apocalypse.

"Miss Warren.." Their 'host' started, but Warren was quick to correct him.

"Roberta."

"Roberta," Zimmerman continued. "Would you like to propose a toast?" 

" _Sure_." She rose her glass. "To fallen friends."

Everyone else rose their glasses. "To fallen friends." They all sipped their drinks together.

10k then felt guilty, he had almost forgotten about Cassandra. They had barely had time to mourn her death before 10k was bitten and then their focus shifted to him. The toast was for her, in her honour, so he finished off his glass and looked upwards in an attempt to let her know, wherever she was, that he was thinking of her.

With a glance to the side, he saw that Murphy was talking to Zimmerman, but Warren looked annoyed and was trying to get him to stop. 

He focused back onto the conversation just in time for him to catch Murphy's "-What can I say? I'm a natural.".

10k heard the words leaving his mouth before he could stop it. "Try _unnatural_." 

His voice was slightly slurred, how could Murphy not tease him about it? He spoke with a laugh. "Somebody had a cocktail." 

10k half-hid his face with his hand, his focus disappearing again as the sound of Murphy's laugh repeated in his mind. It wasn't the usual condescending scoff that was directed his way and he felt himself smile at that, some distant part of him felt like he had received a _praise_.

One of the men left but nobody seemed to take notice. The voices around him seemed to fade out and he blinked slowly in confusion. People around him were raising their glasses again so 10k did the same, only now realising he had been given another drink.. had he been sipping it all this time? 

He heard an echoed version of the toast. ' _To_ _California_!' "-fornia," 10k mumbled along, picking up his new glass and drinking its entirety in a single gulp. Before he knew it, he slumped forward as unconsciousness took over him and his head hit the table. 

Murphy started to laugh, thinking that 10k had passed out because of his inexperience with alcohol, but then Addy and Mack passed out too and then even Warren. 

10k woke in a panic, finding himself handcuffed to between Mack and Addy. Addy was handcuffed to a Zombie, but she quickly solved that problem by piking its head with an umbrella that Mack passed to her.

10k tugged at the restraints as the others around him worked on getting their own wrists free from the handcuffs.

"10k! Quit pulling!" Addy hissed as the metal dug into her skin.

"Murphy-" 10k muttered, sounding breathless as he struggled to his feet.

"Ow! _10k_!" Mack complained now, both him and Addy grabbing onto the wrist of 10k's they were handcuffed to in an attempt to still him. "Doc get me one of these-"

"10k, calm down." Warren was in front of him, free of her cuffs, reaching out and holding his head in her hands.

He was chanting Murphy's name in barely-audible whispers, his eyes unfocused as they searched around the room frantically.

"What?" She asked, leaning closer so he could hear him. Only, it was then that Addy and Mack had freed themselves from the teen so he accidentally pushed her backward as he made a dash toward the door.

Doc grabbed him before he could leave, holding the boy by his shoulders and turning him so he faced the room. His body stiffened and he looked straight forward.

Warren had regained her balance and walked over. "10k?" She sent Doc a worried glance before she looked back at the young man. She saw his eyes looked slightly glazed over and waved a hand in front of them, trying to catch his attention.

"Is he.. okay?" Addy's voice came from behind them. 

"Better yet, are _we_ okay? What happened to us?" Mack asked.

"I believe we got roofied. Drugged with Rohypnol." Doc answered, not looking away from 10k, who remained in this trance-like state. It looked similar to what had happened before when he just started moving out of nowhere.

"Where's Murphy?" Mack asked another question, the one that everyone was thinking.

"Murphy-" 10k gasped out, drawing everyone's attention to him once again. Without another word, he turned and walked outside, heading toward the vehicles. 

The rest followed after him, calling various things out. 

"Where are you going?!"

"10k? You with us?"

"We don't have _time_ for this, we need to find Murphy!"

"Murphy." He repeated the name every time it was spoken. Seemingly without even having to look at what he was doing, 10k got a truck started and hopped into the driver's seat.

"Hey! No you don't-" Warren jogged up to the driver's side of the car and pulled him out from the seat. "You go out there on the road in the state that you're in, you'll get yourself _killed_."

10k seemed to snap out of whatever haze he had been in and he blinked his eyes a few times, furrowing his brows at the woman in front of him. "Warren?"

"You with us?" She repeated her earlier question. 

"What? Yeah, what's happening?" He glanced to his side as Addy, Mack, and Doc came over.

"You went Zombie mode again, kid." Doc had a worried look. "Well, not _Zombie_ Zombie, you know."

"We need to find Murphy." Warren insisted, and that was all it took for 10k to slip back into auto-pilot, getting back inside the truck. "Shit-!" She went to grab him again but Doc stopped her. 

"Maybe we should.. see what happens?" He offered, earning an incredulous look from Warren. "Let someone else drive, of course, but maybe the kid's onto something."

"We don't have time for this!" Warren's words sounded defeated as she repeated it for the nth time. "We need to find Murphy-"

"Murphy," 10k interrupted.

Warren dragged a hand down her face then let out a frustrated sigh. " _Fine_! Mack, take the wheel, go wherever 10k wants. Addy, Doc, up top, you be lookouts." There were nods and everyone followed her orders. 

It was hard to figure out where 10k wanted to go when all he said was 'Murphy' over and over again. This seemed like a crazy plan, a waste of time. 

"Roadblock up ahead," Addy called out.

"I see it," Mack replied, stopping the truck.

"Murphy," 10k sighed, his tone more relieved. 

Mack looked over to him with a raised brow. "What now, bloodhound?"

"'Bloodhound'?" Doc asked, jumping down from the roof with Addy and Warren.

"Yeah, they track scents." Mack glanced over to 10k and eyed him warily. "What now?" He turned to look at Warren through the window, hearing movement as soon as he looked away.

10k got out of the vehicle and had started running. 

"Follow him!" Warren called out.

"Shit-" Mack scooted across the seat and got out of the other side of the truck grabbing his gun and taking off after 10k. The rest of them followed too but weren't as fast.

When they finally caught up with 10k, they saw him holding a jacket. Upon closer inspection, they realised it was Murphy's jacket.

"Way to go, kid!" Doc cheered. "I knew he was onto something. You think he left it on purpose?" 

"He must have." Addy nodded.

A bit of hope stirred inside of Warren but she knew they weren't in the clear yet. "He definitely didn't go willingly.. Should we be worried? About _how_  10k found this?" She looked at each other the others with a raised brow.

Doc shrugged. "Maybe, but let's worry later. Come on, 10k, find him. Find Murphy." He was speaking to him in the tone that you might speak to a dog.

"Murphy." 10k nodded, looking back at the group with the same glazed eyes before he started running again.

The next time they stopped, they were skidding down a hill, and Mack had to grab hold on 10k before he threw himself down into a courtyard full of Zombies on drugs. "Hey!"  
10k pulled against his arm, more agitated as he tried again to move forward.

"Hey!" Warren now grabbed his other arm. 

"Guys, he's there!" Doc pointed out, all eyes trained onto the slow-moving figure of Murphy in the middle of all the Z's.

Murphy soon disappeared inside the building and 10k broke free from their hold on him, practically falling into the Zombie-infested courtyard.

It seemed like he was lucky, as-as soon as he got up off the gravel, a blaring alarm sounded that gained the attention of all the Zombies. 10k was able to sprint inside the building after Murphy, unnoticed.

The crew were about to follow after him but stopped once they saw Zimmerman and his lackeys jog past, each of them going inside as well. "10k.." Doc muttered, voice full of concern.

Inside the building, Murphy had just pressed the button that turned the alarm off when someone ran into the room. He looked up with a quirked brow, seeing 10k stood in the doorway with a wide grin and unfocused eyes. "Murphy!"

"Murphy! Get down here! The job's not done yet! And bring the keys to the van!" Zimmerman's voice made Murphy roll his eyes. 

Murphy took a second to stand back and just look at 10k with a mixed expression of slight admiration and _pride_ on his face. 

When he had been kidnapped, he spent the entire drive staring out of the window, memorising the route that they had taken him on. And then as soon as he felt that _tug_ in his mind, letting him know that 10k had woken up after being drugged by those bastards, he _pushed_ into his mind and _gave_ him the way to find him.

It was a longshot, he wasn't sure if it would even work, but it _had_. 10k had found him- Murphy had _made_ him find him. He wondered if he was the result of the hazy look in his eyes. His thoughts were already wandering, wondering about just  _what_ he could do with this new power, but he was interrupted. 

"Murphy!" Zimmerman called again.

"I'm comin'." He yelled back, stepping toward 10k and patting the side of his face. "Good job at finding me. Stay here until I call you. Don't let them know that you're here." 

Without another word, he left the room, lazily walking down the steps and into the room that his kidnappers were in. "Get over here and help. Things will go faster." 

"I am _not_ your stock boy." Murphy narrowed his eyes. 

"I don't have time for this." Zimmerman took his gun and aimed it at Murphy's head.

"Drop it!" Warren ordered, her, Doc, Addy, and Mack all jogging in with their weapons trained on the enemy. 

"Not happening, Warren. You need to turn around and get out of here before I kill your big ticket." He kept his weapon aimed at Murphy but his head turned toward Warren. 

"Then how will you get out of here?" She countered.

"We can drive. Don't know what you folks will do." 

Their stand-off was interrupted by the growl of Zombies, who took out Zimmerman's allies. Both sides started shooting, killing off any Z they could while also avoiding bullets themselves.

By the time each Z was down, they all turned to see Zimmerman stood with his gun against Murphy's neck, both of them up the stairs and just outside the doorway of where Murphy had switched the alarms off and on.

"Well.. now that's over, we're right back where we started." Zimmerman had the audacity to laugh. "Once again, Warren, you're on the losing end."

"Actually, this is _totally_ different," Murphy spoke up with a smirk, gaining confused looks from everyone. All he had to do was close his eyes, and then 10k stepped out of the room, his own gun pressing against the side of Zimmerman's skull. 

Below them, on the ground level, everyone watched in silence as Murphy took the gun off Zimmerman, who now had his arms raised. They could tell, even from this far, that he was shaking from fear. "10k.." Warren started, though her voice seemed to go unheard.

"You're _weak_ , Zimmerman," Murphy stated. "You're a _weak_ little man." For a moment, he stilled, which meant 10k did too. But then he raised the gun he had taken off of Zimmerman and pressed it against his forehead. "Why don't you go join the others, kid?" He asked, even though 10k was already following the order and walking down the steps.

He could have made 10k pull the trigger, it would have been so _easy_. But he didn't want to scar the kid too much. He knew how freaked out he will be when figuring out Murphy had controlled him, he couldn't make that worse by making him kill someone, a human, no less.

Once his feet touched the ground, the haziness disappeared from his eyes and he seemed to snap back into reality. "10k," Doc let out a breath and pulled him into a hug, moving him away from the scene.

"You were gonna kill me and the others." Murphy continued, looking the man in front of him dead in the eye. " _Pathetic_." 

"It's the apocalypse." Zimmerman spat out as an excuse.

"The apocalypse is better off without you." Murphy's tone was scarily void of emotion. 

"Murphy, what are you doing?" Warren called out but a gunshot interrupted her. 

Zimmerman's body fell to the ground and Murphy walked down the stairs nonchalantly. He threw the van keys to Warren then walked out without another word. 

Unsure of what else to do, the group followed after him at their own pace.

Warren and Doc walked at the back with 10k, each of them looking at him with the same concern. "You okay?"

10k looked lost. "I have no idea what just happened." He shook his head.

Addy and Mack were already in the back of the van, Murphy was sat in the passenger seat. Warren gave 10k a sad smile and a hug, then sat down in the driver's seat.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Doc turned to 10k as he opened the doors to the back of the van.

10k thought for a moment, fighting past the cloudiness of his brain. "..drinking? With the others at the golf course. Uh.. something else on the road, with a truck?"

Doc only nodded and put a hand on his shoulder. "Alright, kid." He let out a sigh. "Let's go."

The conversation was left at that. There was clearly more they had to talk about, but that would have to wait. 10k and Doc climbed into the back of the van and shut the doors behind them.


	4. MEMORIES AND NIGHTMARES

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if there is anything you want me to write about in future chapters! Also, tell me if this is good so far :) I am really enjoying writing it

_10k felt the weight of the gun in his hand, heard the mechanics tick as he prepared to shoot. But something was wrong.. his gun wasn't aimed at a Zombie but a human. This wasn't right, 10k didn't kill humans._

_"10k.." He heard a familiar voice speak, but it was distorted and almost silent compared to the loudness of the other voice in his head that told him to ignore it._

_The man he had his gun trained on was shaking, clearing terrified for his life. 10k wanted to pull his gun away, he didn't want to be the cause of such fear, but he couldn't move._

_"Pull the trigger." He heard whispered in his ear and he didn't have to turn his head to be able to tell it was Murphy who had spoken to him. A sickly sense of calmness ran through his body and he felt his finger moving on its own._

_Gunshot. Screaming. Rapid footsteps- WAKE UP!_

10k sat up so quickly his vision was fuzzy for a few seconds. He let out a heavy breath and shook his head, swallowing any residual shock or fear from his nightmare. He turned his head to the side and saw Murphy staring at him with a raised brow.

"Mornin', sunshine." He drawled with a smirk.

10k's only response to the man was slightly narrowing his eyes. He got up from his makeshift bed on the floor and walked over to where Doc was sat on a log. Doc had smiled upon seeing 10k and passed him a few crackers, their breakfast for the day. "Sleep well, kid?"

10k ate one of the crackers and looked over toward Murphy. "No." He averted his gaze a second later but Doc had caught it.

Doc leaned closer and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Murphy dreams?" He asked.

"Murphy _nightmares_." He corrected, giving Doc a pointed look. "The warehouse."

Doc nodded and handed him a small cup of water. "Your memories coming back then?" He had briefly spoken to 10k about what had happened before when he went 'Zombie mode' so 10k wouldn't be too freaked out about missing half a day.

"Maybe. I don't know." He sipped at the water and ate another cracker. "I think I'm remembering.. but wrongly."

"How do you mean?" Doc asked with furrowed brows.

It was 10k's turn to quieten his voice. "Did I.. shoot him? Zimmerman? Was that me?"

"What?" Doc shook his head. "No, no, kid, that happened _after_ I took you away from everything. Murphy shot him. Was that your nightmare?" He spoke softer when he asked the question.

10k only nodded and shoved the last cracker in his mouth, passing Doc his water back. He didn't want to talk about it anymore.

He got off the log and walked over to where he propped his gun up against a tree. He slung the strap over his shoulder and headed out into the woods. He needed to take his mind off of things and the best way 10k did that was shooting.

There were no Z's around, they had made sure of that when they decided to set up camp here, so that meant he would have to create his own targets.

Maybe it was a waste of ammo but nobody came over to tell him that. They knew that he needed this.

10k stood quite far from where he had placed empty cans. He lifted his gun and took aim, breathing in deeply as he looked at where he wanted to shoot.

He put his finger on the trigger and breathed out slowly. Just as he pulled the trigger, he flashed back to his dream, and for a few seconds, he was sure he had just shot _Zimmerman_.

He dropped his gun to the ground and gasped, taking steps away until his back hit something. Turning around, he saw that it was Murphy that he had walked into, and the shock of that sent him falling back onto the ground.

Murphy had to stifle a chuckle. "Falling for me already, 10k?" He quipped.

10k stared at him from the ground, his chest moving with heavy breaths as he recovered from his mini-panic. He had to remind himself that he was awake and that his dream was just that: a dream.

Murphy's smirk fell from his face after he got no reaction from 10k. After only a moments hesitation, he stepped forward and offered his hand to help the kid up.

10k defied him by standing up on his own, picking his gun up from the ground as he did so. "What are you doing here?" His voice was full of disinterest as he didn't necessarily want to be around Murphy right now. Their already rocky relationship had taken more hits ever since Murphy had bitten him.

"We should talk." Murphy shrugged, sitting himself down on a fallen-over tree. "Don't you think?"

"I don't _want_ to talk to you."

"Yes, I know that." Murphy rolled his eyes. "But your teenage angst is causing problems and I am _far_ too overwhelmed to deal with it right now." 

" _You're_ overwhelmed?" 10k scoffed with a shake of his head.

"Yes! Being the saviour of humanity is not as easy as it looks."

10k clenched his hands into fists, finding it hard to believe that Murphy was _still_ making things all about him.

"Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." He changed the subject quickly, almost as if he could sense 10k's annoyance toward what he had said before. "You're mad at me."

10k gave him a look that read ' _no shit_ '. He turned to walk away and head back to camp. Murphy stood up to stop him. 

"Wait! Don't you want to know what happened yesterday?" He spat out quickly, making 10k pause and turn toward him. 

"Doc told me," 10k replied.

"Doc doesn't know _shit_." Murphy laughed. "I can tell you but you have to stop acting like you hate me."

"I _do_ hate you, you're trying to bribe me with my own memories!" 10k spoke faster with a slightly raised voice.

"Do you want to know what happened or not?" Murphy held his arms out and had his brows raised as he waited for an answer. When he got no protest, he lowered his arms. "Exactly. Sit down."

10k stayed where he was. "What did you do to me?" 

Murphy let out a sigh of frustration. "Nothing!" He insisted though he knew he was lying. He wasn't going to tell him the whole truth, he wanted to keep some parts to himself.

10k already looked sceptical, but he didn't walk away, so Murphy took that as a cue to keep talking.

"After you guys got drugged yesterday, I was taken hostage by Zimmerman and his two lapdogs. _Somehow_ you managed to find me, I think it's because of the bite." 

When Murphy said that, 10k absentmindedly reached up to cover the side of his neck where the now-healed bite was. "What about after? Why did I put my gun against Zimmerman's head? Did you make me do that?"

Murphy feigned a look of confusion. "I don't know why you did that, I _certainly_ didn't make you. I don't have some type of power that lets me control you or something," He forced a laugh. "Maybe you were just feeling protective? It's not like it matters, you walked away after I disarmed him anyway."

"I walked away?" 10k repeated.

"Yeah, went straight down the steps and left me there with him."

"I didn't shoot him?" 10k questioned, his tone assertive, wanting to know the truth.

"Didn't you hear me? I said _no_. _I_ shot him. Don't take credit for my kill." Murphy acted as if he was offended at the thought but he was smirking.

The pair fell into a silence for a minute while 10k processed what Murphy had said. But then he had another question. "Why didn't- _don't_ I remember anything?" 

10k looked him in the eyes for the first time since they started talking. Seeing the lost and slightly sad look in his eyes almost made Murphy regret not telling the whole truth. _Almost_. It was too early for that right now. "I don't know." He answered, his voice quieter and slightly sympathetic. That was an honest answer, he really didn't know.

10k seemed satisfied with that and he looked away. He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

Before he could walk away, Murphy spoke the last time. "I think we should keep this to ourselves." 10k looked unsure. "If it _is_ to do with the bite, who knows what else will happen? You don't want the rest of the group tiptoeing around you even more than they have been, right? That's what they will do if they know how much stuff is changing."

This was a subject that Murphy knew was pissing 10k off. His newfound 'abilities' made it easier for Murphy to tell what 10k was feeling most of the time. Maybe it was a bit manipulative to use his powers the way he was, but would they really expect anything _less_ from him?

Yet again, 10k used silence as his response. Murphy rolled his eyes and patted him on the shoulder. "Good talk, kid." With that, 10k walked back to camp and Murphy trailed after him.

The rest of the day went smoothly. 10k kept to himself for the most part, still piecing together the events from the day before. 

He had been told, by Murphy and Doc now, that he hadn't been the one to put a bullet into Zimmerman's head. But his dream kept replaying in his mind and he couldn't help but think about the _what_ _if's_. 

The campsite they had set up seemed empty. Warren and Addy had walked off from the group to try to contact Citizen Z somehow, which left the boys here alone. Even though only two people were missing, it still felt like there was a _huge_ difference without them being there.

"Hey," Mack spoke, looking over to where 10k was sat by the fire. "You good?" 

10k nodded. "I'm fine." Murphy's words from earlier hadn't left his head. You don't want the rest of the group tiptoeing around you even more than they have been. He was right, they had been tiptoeing around him. Ever since he got bitten. "You guys can stop asking me that every 10 seconds. I'm _fine_."

Mack held his hands up in surrender. "Alright." 

"I mean it." 10k insisted, narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah, got it, I believe you. You're fine." Mack shook his head slightly. "We're just checking in, you know?"

"Because I got bit? I didn't turn, you can stop-"

"It's because you're acting _differently_. It's putting everyone on edge." Mack corrected him, looking him in the eyes. "We don't know what's going on with you, and we know you don't know either. It's just hard to focus on the mission when you're spacing out and running off all the time."

10k stayed silent as he stared at Mack. After a few seconds, Mack turned his head and faced the fire again. 

Doc came over and sat down on a log, glancing at the younger boys warily. "What's with the tension?"

"It's nothing," 10k replied before standing up and walking off to where the van was. He opened the back doors and stepped inside, closing them after.

He sat down on the floor and leaned back against the wall, letting his head fall back and do the same. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Maybe Mack was right, he _was_ too much of a distraction. He decided then that he would keep whatever changes within himself because of the bite to himself as best as he could.

Some things he had no control over, like when he spaced out and went 'Zombie mode' as Doc had called it. But some things, he could _choose_ not to tell the others; like how he kept hearing a distant voice in his head that sounded vaguely familiar, or how he had a new urge to be around Murphy or at least be able to see him.

He knew this was because of the bite. He had his suspicions before but after that talk with Murphy earlier, when he was the one who had suggested it was due to the bite, now he was sure it was. 

It was now almost a week ago that he had been bitten and both his bites were healed. Not only that but every time he scraped or cut himself, they would heal faster too. So, he supposed that there were a few perks to this that he was discovering already. 

Still, he couldn't help but feel like everyone was treating him differently now. Actually, he knew they were. And he hated it. Murphy was no longer the weird one, he was.

A part of him, no, the majority of him was scared for the future, for what _else_ might change and how _much_. But it was strange.. as soon as he felt any fear.. it would disappear a few minutes later. 10k didn't want to think on that too much, he should be grateful for it.

A knock on the van brought him out of his thoughts and he opened his eyes, leaning over to open the doors. Mack was stood there with an awkward smile. Over his shoulder, he saw Addy and Warren in the distance. So they had returned. 

"Any news from Citizen Z?" He asked.

"What? Oh," Mack looked momentarily confused and he shoved his hands in his front pockets, shaking his head. "Nah. They got in contact but he had nothing, he's still working on something or other and doesn't want to tell us until he's sure." Mack shrugged when he finished speaking. "Can I come in?"

10k furrowed his brows with a nod. "Yeah."

Mack took his hands out of his pockets and stepped into the van, sitting down in front of 10k. "I just wanted to come to say that I didn't mean what I said earlier. Well, I _did_ , but it came out harsher than I wanted it to and I wanted to, uh," He cleared his throat. "Apologise for that."

10k rose a brow now. "Okay."

Mack rubbed the back of his neck before continuing, avoiding looking him in the eyes. "I know that you can't help whatever's going on and I also know that us two may not be as close as you are to the others, but, uh, if you ever wanna.. _talk_.. or something.. you can come to me."

10k had sat up now and he was trying to stop himself from smiling or laughing at Mack's attempt to 'connect' with him. Still, he appreciated the sentiment.

Mack let out a sigh. "Basically what I'm trying to say is that I was an asshole and I'm sorry, alright? You're like a little brother to me and I don't want you to think I was pissed off at you or whatever."

10k nodded a last time and his face broke out into a smile. Mack finally looked at him and smiled back. He pulled the younger male into a short hug that ended with him patting him on the back. 

After that, they both got out of the van. "You two kiss and make up yet?" Addy called out, grinning at her boys. Mack rolled his eyes and 10k smiled again, she took that as a yes. "Good, cause dinners getting cold." She joked and the pair headed over to the fire.


	5. DOCTOR OF THE DEAD - PART ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another episode chapter! This ended up being four times longer than my usual chapters as I added quite a lot into the plot so I have decided to split it into two parts! Let me know if you like the chapters where I rewrite canon episodes or if I should do less or more!

10k sat on top of the van, his legs dangling over the side. They'd been driving when an electric road sign had caught their attention, flashing a 'DXD' over and over until the car pulled to a stop.

Warren had gotten out and walked away from the car just far enough that she was still in sight but they couldn't hear her conversation with Citizen Z, who was the one contacting them. She was being secretive and it put 10k on edge.

 _Relax_. He heard in his head, the word having the opposite effect and making him tense further.

He kept his eyes trained on the back of Warren's head, willing her to turn around so he could at least try to make out what she was saying by reading her lips. She didn't.  
10k had tried to walk over so he could hear but she had stepped away, indicating that she didn't want him around, so he returned to the van. Doc, however, was able to walk over and stand by her just fine.

 _"What about the package?"_ Citizen Z's voice came through on the radio.

"Something's happened." Warren gave Doc a look of reluctance. She dreaded Citizen Z's reaction to her next words. "The package bit 10k."

The next thing through the radio was a scoff of bafflement. _"Murphy bit 10k?!"_ His voice had an incredulous tone. _"Is he okay?"_

"Murphy or 10k?" Doc pitched in.

 _"Both! Either! What are their statuses?"_ On the other end, Citizen Z was fumbling around with papers and getting ready to make any notes. _"Why did he bite him?"_

"Well, they're both alive." Warren started with a breath. "10k got attacked and bit by a Z, then Murphy bit him before any of us could stop him. 10k seemed to heal from both bites but now he's acting.. weird."

 _"10k survived the Z bite because of Murphy? This is remarkable!"_ Citizen Z laughed. _"Define 'weird', tell me_ everything _. This could change the entire mission-"_ He cut himself off with another shocked chuckle.

"We don't know what's going on exactly but something definitely _is_. 10k spaces out and goes running after Murphy whenever they're separated for too long, he seems to have no control over this." Warren explained with a glance over her shoulder.

"He's also having trouble remembering stuff when he goes Zombie mode," Doc added.

_"'Zombie mode'? Hold on- is 10k a Z? I thought you said he was alive?"_

"No, no, he is alive. 'Zombie mode' is just what Doc calls it whenever 10k goes into the trance that makes him chase after Murphy." Warren lightly swatted Doc's head.

 _"Wow, okay."_ Citizen Z took a deep breath. _"Okay. Well, Warren, from what it sounds like, I think it's plausible that 10k may also carry the vaccine in his blood now too. I'm going to have to ask you to deliver_ both _Murphy_ and _10k to the lab-"_

"Hold up." Warren interrupted. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" She warned, the tone of her voice daring Citizen Z to speak again.

_"I'm sorry, Luitenant, but 10k is now the mission too. I need them both, alive and well, delivered to the lab in Fort Collins, Colorado."_

Warren looked to the ground with a shake of her head.

"Colorado? What happened to California?" Doc asked, furrowing his brows in question.

_"California Lab's gone dark again, maybe for good. You've been redeployed. I picked up a teletype signal on the old civil defence frequency, it's Doctor Merch. I need you to deliver Murphy and 10k to Fort Collins, Doctor Merch will be there with her team to meet you."_

"Can't we keep 10k? Kid's been through a lot already since the bite." Doc pleaded.

 _"I'm afraid not, Doc, they will need him for research. He survived a_ Zombie _bite! He is now_ just _as important as Murphy is. You need to get them_ both _to Fort Collins."_ He repeated.

Warren let out a sigh. "No more California?" She had to ask, now hoping they could stay on their first course as that would at least mean spending more time with 10k.

 _"Colorado_ is _the new California."_ Citizen Z replied.

"Copy," Warren said unenthusiastically, ending their conversation. Warren and Doc shared a look of unease then both looked over to 10k, who was sat watching them. "You wanna take this?" She turned back to Doc.

Doc nodded. "Yeah." With that, he headed over to the van.

10k could tell something was up. Doc and Warren had kept giving him this look that made his skin crawl. He couldn't describe what it looked like, but it made him feel slightly ashamed. So when Doc walked over with that 'hey, buddy' kind of smile, 10k prepared himself for the worst.

As if 10k had predicted the future, Doc stopped in front of him with a sigh. "Hey, buddy." He started. "How- how you doin', huh?" He was trying to act casual as if he wasn't just about to drop a bombshell on him.

10k stayed silent, frown eminent on his face.

Doc looked him in the eyes and worried his bottom lip between his teeth. Then, after a few seconds, he broke. "We have to hand you over to scientists so they can examine your blood for traces of Murphy!"

Warren, who had walked up behind him, swatted his head again. "Doc!"

10k's eyes widened and his mouth fell open in shock. This couldn't be real.

"What he meant to say was; Citizen Z has given us orders to deliver you, along with Murphy, to a lab in Colorado." Warren corrected.

That didn't give him any more comfort than Doc's version. His mind was already running off with images of himself being used as some kind of lab rat.

"I thought we were headed to Califonia?" Murphy poked his head out of the van window, seemingly unbothered by the fact 10k was now part of the mission too.

That only fuelled 10k's suspicion that he was being thrown to the wolves.

"Not anymore. Doctor Merch is in Fort Collins waiting for you." With a sigh, Warren continued. "The _both_ of you." She averted her eyes from Murphy and looked to 10k, who had stayed silent throughout the whole thing, though he was visibly shaken.

He could now understand why Murphy kept trying to run off. Maybe it was a bit hypocritical to want the mission to stop now that he was a part of it, but he couldn't help it.

"Doctor Merch? Yeah, I got a bone to pick with that bitch." Murphy scoffed.

Once again, Warren was distracted from worrying about 10k and instead glared at Murphy. "That _bitch_ is the reason you are still alive."

Murphy stared her dead in the eyes. "Define alive."

Before Warren could reply, a loud banging interrupted her. "10k?" She heard Addy call, followed by a "10k where are you going?!"

They now realised that the banging had been 10k jumping off of the van. He was sprinting off through a field. "Mack! Addy! Don't let him get away!" Warren called out.

She didn't have to tell them twice, they had already taken off after him.

Warren walked over to the van and yanked the door open, dragging Murphy out from the drivers' side. "Let's see if this tracking thing works both ways." She gave him a glare and pushed him forward.

"'Tracking thing'? What the hell are you talking about?" He knew what she was talking about. He knew where 10k was going. He knew Mack and Addy had no chance catching up to him once he reached the trees. He also knew that he wasn't going to _let_ them find him. It was bad enough that _he_ was going to be experimented on, he didn't want that to happen to 10k _too_.

"You know what I am talking about, let's go!" Warren shoved him forward again and he begrudgingly started walking, albeit it purposely slowly.

Just as Murphy had predicted, Addy and Mack had lost track of 10k once he disappeared into the trees. Still, they kept calling out for him.

"10k!"

Warren joined Addy from where she stood at the edge of the trees, dragging Murphy along by his arm. "Alright, do your thing." She let go of his arm and Murphy turned to her with a raised brow.

"Excuse me?" He knew what she was telling him to do but he was trying to stall as best he could. Give the kid more time before they ripped his freedom away completely.

" _Find_ _him_." Warren urged.

"Do we _really_ need him?" Murphy drawled, earning a slap from Addy on his arm.

"Of course we need 10k! He's our team. We don't leave without him." Addy glared.

Murphy rolled his head so he was looking at Addy. "Oh, you don't know? Do you?"

Addy narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Know what?"

"Warren?" He looked back to Warren with a fake gasp. "Are you going to tell them that you're planning on dumping _both_ me and 10k off to be lab rats or is that supposed to be a secret?"

"What?!" Addy spat out. "You can't be serious? _10k_?" She was looking at Warren for answers. Murphy started to step away.

Warren held her hands out toward Addy. "It's not my call! Citizen Z wants them both, 10k has some miracle blood now too because of Murphy-" She turned to glare at Murphy and saw him running off into the trees. "Murphy!"

He was gone before Warren had the chance to run after him. "It's okay, Mack's still in there, he'll find them." Addy reassured her, only for Mack to step out of the trees not too far away and shake his head. "Shit.."

"Great, now we lost Murphy _and_ Murphy's tracker." Warren sighed. "We need to find them _now_. Citizen Z needs them both at Fort Collins, there are doctors and scientists waiting for us."

Somewhere in the forest, 10k had climbed a tree as far as he could manage and was sat on a sturdy branch. He had outrun Mack easily enough but saw some Z's in the distance and figured his best bet would be to get high up as he couldn't use his gun without alerting everyone to where he was.

_What are you doing up there?_

10k squeezed his eyes tight and shook his head, taking a breath before leaning his head back against the tree.

_I know you can hear me._

The words whispered in his head were getting clearer each day but that didn't mean they were fully comprehensible. 10k tried to push against the mental intrusion. _Shut up._

In response, he heard a faint laugh. That hadn't been in his head. 10k opened his eyes and squinted through the leaves, trying to spot who that could've been.

 _Come on, kid, I know you're not_ that _dumb. You should know who it is by now._

10k felt a mix of anger and annoyance rise inside of him and he imagined himself _shoving_ the voice from his head forcefully.

He heard a hiss, this one not in his head either, and he looked down and saw that Murphy was at the foot of the tree, rubbing his head.

"Ow." He said with a flat tone. "You should be nicer to your _guests_." Murphy joked, failing at hiding the smirk on his face. "Come on, kid-" He repeated the phrase the voice in his head used. "- get down from there."

10k went to shake his head. "No-" But before he could control himself, he was climbing down the tree and joining Murphy on the forest floor. "What-" He looked at Murphy with wide eyes.

Murphy held his hands up in mock surrender. "Wasn't me." He lied. He knew what had happened, 10k had responded to an order, just like he had before. Only, 10k didn't seem to space out this time.

10k wanted to climb back up the tree and to hide away but it was like his shoes were glued to the ground, he couldn't move. After a minute or so of trying to move, his annoyance grew. "Stop it!" He hissed.

"I'm not doing anything!" Murphy was quick to reply. "If you want to move, then _move_!"

Like he had said a magic word, 10k could now move again and he took a few steps away from Murphy. "How did you-" He cut himself off, unsure of what to say.

Instead of telling him the truth, Murphy carried on lying. "I'm not doing _anything_!" He repeated, voice full of fake exasperation. "God, stop blaming your problems on me."

Murphy was having fun with his new powers. They seemed to get stronger the more time went on. He could now freely speak inside 10k's mind, pick up on his emotions and thoughts, and even see inside his head if he concentrated enough. He knew now that 10k responded to Murphy's voice like a soldier following orders. This was fun. He was _trying_ not to be a dick but _not_ using his abilities would be a waste!

10k was staring at him in silence. Murphy went inside his head to figure out what he was thinking. After only a few seconds surrounded by his thoughts, Murphy winced. "Jeez, kid, quit thinking so loud. You're giving me a headache,"

10k narrowed his eyes at the man and sprung forward to hit him, though he froze as soon as Murphy held his hand up to stop him. There was anger in his eyes as he glared at Murphy and jerked against the mental restraints. "Get _out_ of my head." He spoke lowly, voice dripping in venom, though Murphy could detect the hint of fear beneath it.

"I'm not _in_ your head, silly." Murphy kept his act up, which only gave 10k more rage.

"10k! Murphy! Stay right where you are!"

The pair snapped their heads to the left, seeing the gang running towards them from the other side of the forest. Murphy lowered his hand and his control over 10k's body fell apart.

10k slumped down onto his knees, exhausted after trying to fight against him for so long. He looked up at Murphy with a final, tired glare, then fell forward and passed out onto a pile of leaves.

A few hours later, everyone was back in the van and heading for Fort Collins. 10k stirred awake after the van jostled harshly as Doc ran over a Z.

" _Really_ , Doc? You couldn't have gone around it?" He faintly heard Murphy complain. It wasn't the worst thing he could wake up to.

"Sorry, dude, can't waste no time," Doc responded with a cheeky grin.

"Hey, you awake?" 10k felt a nudge on his shoulder and he blinked his eyes open to see Addy. He now realised the position that he was in: sat between Addy and Mack and leaning heavily against Addy, his head on her shoulder.

He pulled away and gave a nod. "Sorry."

"No worries." She gave a smile, though it was small and looked forced.

He went to move his hair out of his eyes but found his wrists had been handcuffed. A flash of panic rushed through him and Murphy glanced at him over his shoulder. "What- why am I handcuffed?"

"Don't worry, kid, you're not the only one." Murphy lifted his arms and showed that he was also handcuffed. That made 10k's panic worsen.

He looked to Warren with wide eyes. "What's going on?"

Warren had a regretful expression on her face."I had to make sure you wouldn't run off again." Her voice was quiet, it was clear she didn't want to be doing this.

10k shook his head. "You can't take me to the lab-"

"We have no _choice_ , 10k." Warren insisted.

The fear was obvious on 10k's face. He didn't want this, he _never_ wanted this. He didn't _ask_ for Murphy to bite him, he certainly would have preferred being left to die rather than being taken to a lab where who knows what will happen to him.

He heard a scoff and he looked away from Warren just in time to see Murphy turning away and facing forwards again.

_Now you know how I feel, kid._

He spoke inside of 10k's mind, making him feel guilty for previously being okay with the mission when it was only Murphy's freedom at stake.

He looked down at his lap, feeling an overwhelming sadness wash over him and make his whole body feel like it was buzzing.

In the passenger seat of the van, Murphy had felt the intense emotion coming from 10k and it made his heart twinge. He felt bad for the kid but he still didn't regret saving his life.

10k felt hands on his face and he lifted his head to look at Warren, who had moved in front of him. "Listen, we won't let _anything_ bad happen to you, alright, baby boy? They can take Murphy no matter what but we will get you out of there if-"

"No." 10k protested.

It slightly shook Warren and she furrowed her brows. "What?"

" _No_." 10k repeated, raising his chained wrists and pulling her hands away from his face. "You get _both_ of us out or you get _none_ of us out." He spoke slow and quiet, his voice was more controlled than he felt at this moment.

Warren hesitated, glancing around at the others, then she nodded. "Alright. Your rules."

She sat back after that and 10k took a deep breath.

 _You didn't need to do that._ Murphy's voice was back in his head.

 _Shut up._ 10k mentally sighed.

"This must be it." Warren stood up and held onto the back of the seats. "Citizen Z said to look for a metal shed with a roll-up door."

"Like this one?" Murphy sat up in his chair. He got no reply.

Doc pulled up just outside of the lot. The rest of the group had stood up now and walked over to the window so they could see out. Outside there were Zombies all stood still and facing the same direction.

"What are they all looking at?" 10k asked, furrowing his brows.

"Our entrance," Warren replied.

Murphy grimaced. "You think we're in the right place? Looks small."

Warren opened the back doors and stepped outside. She then opened the passenger seat and pulled Murphy out, much like she had earlier.

The rest of the group got out at their own pace, 10k being the last to step outside. Doc came up behind him and gave him a side-hug. "You'll be alright kid. Come on."

"Let's just get this over with," Murphy grumbled before he started speed-walking to the Zombies.

"Hey!" Warren called out.

"Murphy!" Mack yelled, causing the Zombies to turn toward the sound.

10k quickly jogged over to Murphy, having heard the order to do so in his head. His hands twitched, itching to be holding a gun so he could protect himself.. but the Zombies didn't seem to mind him too much. He assumed it was because Murphy was controlling them.

Murphy turned around and faced the group with a smile, giving them a thumbs up.

As soon as Murphy raised his hands. the Zombies started growling and ran toward the van. 10k moved closer to Murphy to avoid getting too close to them, almost grabbing a hold of his arm.

"Shit!" Various members of the group cursed, running back inside of the van as the Zombies surrounded them.

Murphy and 10k were now stood out in the open. 10k's heart was hammering in his chest and he turned to face the man. "Now what?" He hoped that this was a part of some big plan for them to escape.

"Murphy! 10k!" They heard them yell.

Murphy looked away from 10k and toward the van. "What?!"

10k pushed his words into Murphy's head. _Help them._

Murphy scoffed and looked at him. _They were going to abandon you here with me, you know that, right?_

 _Help them._ 10k said again.

" _Fine_." 10k stayed put as Murphy walked over to the van. He walked through the Zombies without a problem and pulled the back door open. "Follow me."

"How do you know?" Warred asked warily.

"Worked with 10k." One by one, the crew got out of the van. "Okay, group hug."

" _What_?" Mack piped up.

"Just do it! You want to live or not?" They didn't need to be told again. Everyone grabbed onto Murphy, leaning away from the Zombies crowded around them as they slowly moved in a huddle. "Maybe _someday_ you'll learn to trust me."

"Man, I hope nobody sees us," Doc whined.

Along the way, 10k joined the huddle and headed toward the door. Warren pushed in the pin code to open it and they all hurried inside. Murphy made sure the Zombies stayed outside as the door closed.

"You know, before the apocalypse, I had the same effect of the ladies," Murphy smirked, earning multiple glares.

They went down an elevator that stopped on a basement floor. There were multiple bodies on the floor, surrounded by pools of blood.

"Sure doesn't look operational," Warren commented, looking around for any sign of the Doctor.

"All those Zombies up there must have wanted something down here.." Addy trailed off.

"Yeah, but what?" Warren asked.

Doc shrugged. "Same thing they always want. Brains."

"No." Murphy shook his head. "Something different." Everyone turned to look at him, waiting for him to continue. "Something inside is attracting them like a magnet. I can _feel_ it."

Doc glanced at 10k. "Do you feel anything?"

10k shook his head. "Nothing like that, no."

Warren reached down and took an I.D off of a dead doctors body, scanning it to open a set of double doors. They stepped around the bodies and headed into the new area with their weapons raised.

They came across a circular table surrounded by dead doctors who were all wearing party hats. On the table, there was a half-eaten cake along with other drinks and foods.

"Happy damn Birthday." Warren sighed.

"Aw, Reminds me of my 50th." Doc joked.

10k walked closer to the table, reading the message that was on the cake. "'Happy Birthday Doctor Kur...'?"

"Dibs on the last rose!" Murphy picked off a rose made from frosting off the cake, shoving it in his mouth. Once again, all eyes were on him. "What? I can't help it. Damn vaccine makes me crave sugar."

"Well if you start craving _brains_ , let me know," Doc spoke with a dry voice. 10k looked momentarily worried.

"Ha-ha." Murphy rolled his eyes and licked the residual frosting from his fingers.

The sound of a crash caused them all to look in the same direction. "Puppies and kittens," Warren whispered.

Doc and Mack raised their guns and aimed toward the hallway, Addy alongside them, Z-Whacker in hand.

"Unlock me, I can help!" 10k held his wrists out.

"No, I can't let you fight, 10k."

"I'm a better shot than any of you, let me help! I'll stay back, I swear." He pleaded.

Warren waited a beat before she nodded and pulled the key out from her pocket, unlocking 10k's handcuffs. He was picking up his gun and aiming a second later.

She turned to do the same with Murphy's but he lifted his arms and pulled his wrists apart with ease, the handcuffs were still around his wrists but they weren't chained together.

"How did you-"

"Pilates." Murphy shrugged.

"Here they come.." Doc spoke lowly.

"Come on, let's take cover." She pushed Murphy behind a machine and stood beside him. "10k, step back a little."

10k didn't listen, too 'in the zone' to hear any outside voices. As soon as a Zombie came into view, 10k pulled the trigger, the bullet going straight through the middle of its head. "Three thousand and two."

A Z in a hazmat suit came running at Doc and he shot it straight on. "Well, I hope that was a Zombie."

"Incoming at eleven o'clock," Warren warned.

"That's all you, kid. I'm out." Doc frowned.

"Me too." Mack sighed.

Addy stayed beside him as the others stepped back. She was ready to pike anything if it got too close.

10k breathed in through his nose and then out slowly through his mouth, keeping his focus. He shot at another Z but the bullet missed and hit some metal. "Damn,"

"Careful, kid!" Doc blurted out, hands reaching out toward 10k as the Zombie started running.


	6. DOCTOR OF THE DEAD - PART TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two of the episode rewrite! 
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!

"I got this," Addy stepped forward, lightly pushing 10k back by his chest, and Doc pulled him toward the rest of the group. Addy charged forward with a battle cry and swung her bat, hitting the Zombie straight in the head with the spikes. It fell to the floor and she put a foot on its shoulder, yanking the bat out from its skull.

A piece of faint music started playing and Murphy furrowed his brows. "What is that?"

"It sounds like a phone," Mack mumbled.

They followed the music and found more corpses. The music was a phone that was ringing in one of the corpses' hands. Doc pulled it out and read aloud a series of messages that the man was texting somebody when the apocalypse went down. The phone chimed again as Citizen Z sent a text, informing them of some new files he had found of something he thought they should see. When they managed to get the files up, there were some videos and profiles on different doctors. 

One of the videos was of a series of Zombie-fied monkeys and how they responded to different vaccines, only, it was dated a year before the apocalypse.

Murphy had brought up Doctor Merch's profile, pointing and yelling at the screen about how she was 'the bitch that did this to me'.

After that, they saw another video. This one of Doctor Merch and another unknown doctor. They spoke about an incident in which the doctor triggered the 'contamination alarm'. He was insisting that he followed protocol and that it was a mistake but Doctor Merch ignored his pleas.

"Well, I'm guessing it didn't end too well for old Doyle here." Murphy sighed as the video ended.

"Okay, who's for getting out of here right now? Show of hands." Doc rose his hand, followed by 10k, Mack, and then Addy. "Okay. It's back out to the apocalypse it is."

"Nobody's going anywhere." Murphy stood up from the desk and turned toward them. "This is not a goddamn democracy. We came here to find Doctor Merch, and that is exactly what we are going to do."

"He's right." Warren nodded. "If she's down here we just can't leave her. She is still our only chance at a vaccine."

"You're right. I just thought we might want to, I dunno, _live_." Doc shrugged.

"Yeah, well, quit your dreaming and let's go."

They moved through the lab until the phone rang again. Doc took it out and answered the call. "Zombie apocalypse, how may I direct your call?"

_"Operation Bite Mark?"_

"Uh, yeah, what's left of us. This is Doc speaking."

_"Excellent. Are you all still together?"_

"Correctamundo. Nice to hear your voice. So, what fresh hell awaits us?"

_"According to the operations manual I've hacked into, you're going to need to go through decontamination."_ Citizen Z explained.

Doc glanced behind him. "Well that sounds great to me cuz I ain't had a decent shower since, let's see, New York."

_"Well, it's not exactly a shower. But here's the most important thing. It is imperative that you decontaminate again before going back to the surface. This lab is equipped with Defcon One level quarantine assurance."_

"Defcon One?" Doc breathed, earning glances from the others. "Well isn't that some kind of nuclear term?" 

_"In the event of the breach of the quarantine system, the lab is targeted to be incinerated by a tactical nuclear weapon."_

"Why am I not surprised?" Doc deadpanned.

_"And there's one other thing about the decontamination process you need to know.."_ Citizen Z started. 

"Yeah? What's that?" Doc asked, eyebrows shooting up with what Citizen Z said. After ending the call, he leaned over to Warren to tell her first. 

Warren put a hand on her hip. " _Naked_?"

"That's what he said." Doc shrugged. "Naked. And then we got to put all our clothes and stuff is this chute here to get decontaminated with some liquid nitrogen."

"So what are we waiting for?" Murphy said, hands already unbuttoning his shirt.

"For y'all to turn around." Warren narrowed her eyes before taking off her jacket. 

"And no peeking!" Addy added.

It wasn't long until they were all undressed and stood in a circle, facing away from each other. 10k's eyes drifted to the side, where Addy stood next to him. She caught him not a second later. "Eyes up front, young man!"

He was quick to look away, though his eyes were wide. "Sorry, sorry!" 10k was sure his face was bright red and he heard a chuckle from Mack, who was stood next to him.

"Doc, what now?" Warren asked.

"Oh, we got to put these on." He handed multiple pairs of goggles to her. "And.. and then you got to hit that button marked decontamination in front of you, 10k."

10k nodded.

While Warren passed the goggles around, she caught a glance at Murphy. "Murphy, your scars-" Murphy looked at her then to the scars on his shoulder. "It looks like it's spreading."

Upon hearing this, the others couldn't help but turn to look. 10k stared at the decaying skin and gulped. "That's what I wanted to talk to Doctor Merch about."

"Will that happen to me?" 10k asked, his voice quiet.

Murphy was the one to look over his shoulder now, eyes meeting 10k's. "No."

He sounded sure and it granted 10k some comfort, he looked him in the eyes with a nod before he turned away. 

Murphy kept his eyes on 10k for half a minute longer, taking in the image of him without a shirt- well, without anything. Before his eyes could stray too far, he cleared his throat and faced forward again. "Well, put your goggles on and quit staring! I'm not the goddamn elephant man, I'm a human being! Sort of."

Everyone put on the goggles they had been given. "Are you ready?" 10k asked.

"Just do it!" Murphy ordered and 10k leaned forward to press the button.

There was a bright light and some kind of hissing sound as chemicals entered the room. They spent up to ten minutes in the decontamination room before they stepped out and put on their 'cleaned' clothes.

They headed through more hallways that took them further into the lab then came across a door marked 'QUARANTINE'. After surprisingly minimal protests, they walked through the door.

They came across a horrific site, various rooms- no, cells, each with a person inside. They looked to have been human subjects to the vaccine prototypes. Most were dead, but one woman was alive. When she saw other people, however, she looked to be mouthing 'kill me'.

"Over here!" 10k called out. "This one's gone, the door's open." The gang were hesitant to walk over. "What was it?"

"Better question is where'd it go?" Warren looked around.

There was a low growling sound nearby. "Well whatever it is, it's still here." Doc shined his flashlight toward the growling and revealed a weird-looking Z. 

"There's another one," Warren had her light on a doctor Z.

"Murphy, go talk to them. Do.. do that thing you do." Doc took a step back.

Murphy looked at him then the Zombies. He straightened his shirt then approached them slowly. He crouched down and stared at them for a minute, then stood back up.

"Guys.. these aren't regular Zombies. They're some kind of mutant thing." After he said that, the Zombies ran forward. "I don't think they like me!"

The bigger Zombie reached out to grab onto Murphy but 10k had tackled it away before it could touch him. "Thanks, kid-" Murphy breathed out. The Zombie was strong, though, and easily had 10k pinned to the floor. 

"10k!" Doc shouted.

Addy looked over to him and ran over, piking the Z's head with her bat. She then did the same to the other Z who had gone after Mack.

10k was helped up from the floor by Doc. Every stared wide-eyed at Addy.

Mack let out a breath. "Thanks, babe." He pulled her in for a quick kiss.

Addy smiled. "You're welcome."

"Let's go find Merch." Murphy interrupted. With that, they were heading even further into the lab.

The ended up following a trail of blood to a part of the lab marked 'BIOCONTAMINANT'. When they walked inside, they found what looked like metal coffins, along with the top half of a Zombie.

This time, when Murphy crouched in front of it, he was able to _hear_ it just like regular Zombies. This Zombie was the other doctor from the video they had watched earlier. 

The Zombie pressed on a button on the computer he was laying near and a video was brought up. The video was of Doctor Merch and himself, when he was human, it showed that he was the first human trial of the vaccine.

The video ended and Murphy looked at the Zombie with a look of sadness. But then realisation dawned on them.. this wasn't a Zombie. This man was _alive_.. the vaccine had worked, it stopped him from turning, but it also stopped him from dying.

Murphy could hear his voice straining. "Kill.. me." He mumbled, repeating it over and over.

All of 10k's earlier fears were brought back and this time it looked like Murphy felt exactly the same. If Doctor Merch had done this to her colleagues.. what would she do to the two of them?

"We're getting the _hell_ out of here," Murphy muttered, still in shock.

Before they could leave, Citizen Z appeared onscreen. "You've got company! Looks like Doctor Merch and two soldiers are headed your way. They should be there any second."

10k could feel his panic returning. _Murphy-_ 10k's voice came out choked even in his brain. He was too afraid to voice his fears but he didn't need to, Murphy could hear them anyway. 

He met 10k's eyes and the pair shared a moment that the others were unaware of. _I know. I won't let them get you._

10k let out a shaky breath and Doc turned to him. "You okay, kid?" 10k only nodded in response, refusing to look away from Murphy as he did.

The doors opened and all heads turned toward it to see three people walk into the room. Murphy was the first to move, marching over with an angry expression. Warren had to grab onto his arm to stop him from getting too close. 

"Doctor Merch. We meet again." Murphy drawled.

Only, when the doctor removed their gas mask and pulled down the hood of their hazmat suit, it wasn't Doctor Merch, it was a bald man who Murphy had never seen before. "Doctor Merch didn't make it. I'm her boss, Doctor _Kurtz_. I'm here to help you save mankind. We've gone to a great deal of effort to find you, Mr Murphy."

"I've been on a little road trip." He replied.

"Well, your journey ends here. You're safe now." Doctor Kurtz glanced over his shoulder, looking at the rest of the group. "And your friends are to be commended for their bravery and commitment. Now, which one of you is 10k? The.. _bonus_ package?" 

10k felt himself tense up and he didn't miss the way Murphy moved so he was partially hiding him from view.

"I'm guessing that's you, the one with the bite mark on your neck." Doctor Kurtz smiled at him.

10k instinctively reached up to cover his neck, looking over to the rest of the group warily. Before he could panic, though, Murphy's voice was back in his head. _It'll be okay. Trust me._

"What's going to happen to them?" Warren spoke up. 

"Well, we'll take them the rest of the way to the lab in California where we'll sequence Murphy's genes and clone the antibodies in his blood. Then, with any luck, we'll be able to recreate the vaccine that keeping them both alive."

"What if we don't want to be your guinea pigs?" Murphy asked.

"Well, then you'll eventually wind up just like Brendon Doyle, Patient Zero over there." The doctor nodded toward the half-body. "Speaking of which, someone should really give that poor creature mercy."

"I'll do it." Murphy offered before anyone else could, taking Warren's knife and walking over to the body.

10k readjusted his hold on his gun, the action caused Doctor Kurtz to look over to him once more. "There's no need to be nervous, Ten Thousand, you will be our _special_ guest. We are very intrigued to know how your body is coping or.. adjusting.. as a result of Murphy's bite. We are very amazed to see you still alive. You too, Murphy. It really is a _miracle_."

Murphy wasn't paying attention to him, too focused on his task. He took hold of Doctor Doyle's hand and whispered so only he could hear. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry about all of it." His voice wavered and he sniffled to keep his oncoming tears at bay.

10k could feel the emotion Murphy was feeling, either because of their connection or simply because he could see it on his expression. It was hard to stop his own eyes from welling up.

Doyle started to speak and Murphy leaned in closer so he was able to hear. "Don't.. trust.. him." Murphy looked over to Kurtz. "Don't.. trust.. him."

Murphy looked back to Doyle and nodded. "I give you mercy." He then stabbed him in the head with Warren's weapon. Once Doyle was dead, he stood up straight and faced the others. "We're not going."

10k felt relief flood through his body at those words, but he didn't let himself relax just yet.

" _Murphy_ ," Warren walked over to him. "This is why we came this far." 

"Explain to me again why I should believe anything you say." Murphy rose his voice and looked the doctor in the eyes. 

"Let's start with you have no choice." Kurtz and his guards started walking towards them. 

Warren and Addy drew their weapons. "What are you doing?"

"Just a precaution," Kurtz replied, hand on his gun.

"Now just hold on a minute," Doc butt in, stepping in front of 10k. Mack copied the action. "Ain't no reason to jump bad. He's just nervous. _Right_ , Murphy?" Doc turned to look at him, his face reading 'help me out here'.

From the computer behind Murphy, Citizen Z's muffled voice was yelling something at them, though everyone was more focused on the armed guards they were having a stand-off with.

"Really, this is so unnecessary. No one's going to harm either of you. Quite the opposite."

Mack turned his head and caught a glimpse of Citizen Z on the screen. He was holding up a sign to the camera that read 'KILL THE DOCTOR!!'. His eyes widened and he nudged Addy, nodding toward the screen so she read it too. Silently, they formulated a plan.

Only, it seemed they didn't need that plan, as something else happened before they could execute it.

Doctor Kurtz made a move to step toward them again, nodding to his guards to follow his lead. Murphy knew at this moment it was now or never.

While keeping his eyes trained on the doctor, Murphy pushed his way into 10k's mind. _I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, kid. There's no other way. You were right, you're the best shot out of any of us. You're the one chance we have at getting out of here alive._

10k was confused, as to be expected, but that didn't matter, Murphy was already giving his order, and this time, he said it aloud. " _Kill him_." He didn't want to do this, it was only a few days ago that he had stopped 10k from killing a human because he didn't want to _break_ him- but this was the only option.

All eyes turned to Murphy, unsure as to who he was talking to. Their question was answered when 10k took out his dagger and threw it directly into one of the guards chests. It shocked everyone and made them take a step back as 10k pounced forward. 

The other guard tried to shoot at him but 10k had grabbed the injured guard and used him as a human shield, not before ripping the knife from his chest, of course.

He then pushed that guard onto the other and picked up both of their guns. Before either of them could get up again, 10k shot them both with their own guns multiple times. 

Mack, Addy, Warren, and Doc had all taken cover behind the metal boxes, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire. "Murphy, get down here!" Warren hissed. 

Murphy ignored her, taking another step forward both physically toward the chaos, and mentally into 10k's mind. 

His eyes snapped to Doctor Kurtz and so did 10k's. 10k spared a second to stab both guards in the head, ensuring they wouldn't come back as Zombie's, then turned on Kurtz.

"What is 10k doing?!" Mack asked. 

Doc poked his head over the box. "I don't think that's 10k." He ducked as more shots were fired, only he lifted his head once again once he realised what just happened. " _NO_!" Addy and Mack had to grab both of his arms and hold him down so he didn't run out into the battlefield.

Kurtz was the one shooting, he fired bullet after bullet, each one of them hitting 10k in the chest. His body flew back from the power as Kurtz continued to shoot, walking toward him. 10k dropped every weapon he had been holding and he hit the ground with a thud. 

Kurtz didn't stop shooting until he was stood directly over 10k and staring down at him. "This is a shame, we _really_ could have used you."

Murphy stared in horror at 10k's bloodied body. He could _feel_ all the pain, the fear, the hatred toward him. 10k choked on his own blood, looking right back up at Murphy as tears fell down his face.

_I'm sorry._ Murphy's voice appeared in his head. _I'm sorry._ He repeated before running out of the room.

"Murphy, wait!" Warren yelled after him but he was already gone.

Kurtz ran after him and Doc couldn't control himself anymore, he pulled away from Mack and Addy and ran toward 10k. He dropped to his knees and pulled the bloodied boy into his lap, Mack and Addy kneeling down right beside him and taking one of his hands in their own.

"You're okay, kid," Doc reassured him, though he knew there was no hope. They were all crying, their tears falling onto 10k as he struggled to stay conscious. "You're okay-" Doc breathed, but he broke down once he saw 10k's eyes close and his arms fall limp in the others' grip.

Murphy kept running, buzzing through doors as fast as he could. Citizen Z yelled at him through a speaker. _"Murphy!"_

Murphy recognized the voice and he turned toward the camera. "You.. you set us up, you bastard!" He yelled right back at him.

_"No! No, I didn't! I had_ no _idea this was gonna happen, I swear! You have to believe me!"_

"No, I don't." Murphy shook his head. "I don't have to believe anything anyone says ever again! _Especially_ you!" He pointed at the speaker, knowing Citizen Z could see him.

_"You have_ got _to listen to me. You're infected with the virus. If you attempt to exit the lab without going through decontamination, you're going to set off the fail-safe."_

"And why should I care?" Murphy laughed humourlessly. He couldn't feel 10k anymore, he didn't want to think about what that meant.

_"DAMNIT MURPHY! LISTEN!"_

"I LOST _EVERYTHING_!" Murphy screamed, his voice and body shaking with intense emotion. "Including myself!" He added, quieter.

_"Murphy. A tactical nuclear weapon will be launched from NORAD to incinerate the lab. If you go up, you will kill_ everyone _there, including Warren, Doc, and the others. Do you read me?"_

A door opened behind him and Kurtz appeared with a gun. Murphy watched him trying to open the last door that separated them from each other, then gave the speaker a last glance. "They're all doomed without 10k anyway," Murphy spoke quiet, almost too quiet for Citizen Z to hear, but he did.

_"What? What happened to 10k? Murphy? Murphy-"_

Murphy pulled the sliding door open and ran out, ignoring all the yelling after him.

An alarm sounded, along with flashing red lights, and an automated voice that sounded far too cheery when it spoke. 

_Fail-safe activated. Seven minutes to detonation._

"Come on, we have to go!" Warren pulled at Doc, who cradled 10k's lifeless body like a child. 

"We can't leave him here, he deserves better than that." Doc protested.

"Then we take him with us, but we have to leave now!" Warren insisted. 

_Five minutes to detonation._

"See?!"

Doc attempted to lift 10k's body but he struggled too much to hold his weight while his legs felt like jelly.

"I got him, come on." Mack took 10k off of him and nodded at Warren. 

"Okay, let's get the hell out of this place." They hurried out the doors, retracing their steps as they raced toward the exit.

Three minutes later, a missile hit the lab and blew the entire building up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am.. so.. sorry.


	7. LOST

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!

10k's eyes shot open and he gasped for air, only to choke on smoke not a second later. His whole body shook and writhed as ash fell on top of him, coating him like snow. He forced himself to move, crying out in pain as he turned himself onto his front and started dragging himself away from the explosion. At least, he _hoped_ he was going away from it, he couldn't tell due to the smoke.

He was having to drag himself with one hand, the other was holding his shirt scrunched up in front of his mouth so he could at least _try_ to not inhale as much smoke as possible. One upside to being previously injured was that his shirt was still wet with blood and it helped filter out the smoke even more.

He sobbed as his bare chest grazed against the gravel road, the images of himself being shot multiple times replaying in his head.

He managed to crawl only a few metres from where he had woken up before he passed out again.

Then it happened again. 

10k woke up with a shock, instantly aware of his surroundings. His pain had dulled and the smoke around him was thinning out enough that it resembled light fog.

He let out a choked cry and a hiss at the twinge of pain when he rolled himself onto his back. His chest heaved with his laboured breaths and he coughed to get the smoke out from his burning lungs.

10k's head felt heavy as he lifted it up so he could look at the bombsite around him. There was ash and rubble everywhere. He couldn't see a single person around and his ears were ringing so even if someone was nearby, he wouldn't know.

He looked down at his chest and winced. His shirt was still scrunched up around his neck, something he was grateful for as now his blood had dried and he was sure it would have dried into his wounds if 10k had left it against his skin. 

With a shaky hand, 10k brushed off as many stones and as much dirt as he could, whining as he did so. Then he reopened his gunshot wounds by digging his fingers into his chest and pulling out seven separate bullets.

He should be dead.

But he isn't.

Slowly, he brought himself to his feet and really took in the sight around him. He couldn't see any bodies, just fallout. He hoped that meant that the others were okay- oh god, the others..

10k's head throbbed as the memories came back to him. It was fuzzy and jumbled but somehow he was able to piece together what had happened. 

When he did, he could hear Murphy's last words spoken to him repeated in his brain. ' _I'm sorry_.'

And then the images of Doc cradling him were brought up, along Addy and Mack crying over his body, and Warren looking so _heartbroken_ \- he wished he could find them, hug them all and tell them that he wasn't dead.

But he had no idea where they were. And in the apocalypse, if you get split up from your team, you never know if you'll ever see them again. That was if they even survived the blast.

10k might have just lost everything.

The sudden intensity of grief that 10k felt caused part of him to slip away mentally- he hadn't felt like this since he lost his dad. That only solidified that fact that 10k viewed these people as his family.

As he retreated into his brain, a part of him was brought to light: a _feral_ side of him that had been conjured when Murphy had bitten him.

His slow breaths turned into quick pants, and his eyes had that familiar glazed-over look that came when there was only one thing on his mind..

" _Murphy_."

10k wasn't sure how long he'd been walking for, all he knew what that his pain had returned with a vengeance. He was moving slow, his head lolling down and to the side, his feet dragging behind him, and his arms only being used to pull himself up whenever he would trip or fall. 

His reopened bullet wounds had stopped bleeding again but that barely did anything to help his appearance. His hair was sticking up wildly, matted with dirt and sweat and slightly singed from the explosion. His entire chest was covered with blood in various stages of drying, along with more dried blood staining his mouth and neck from when he had used his shirt as a gas-mask. The shirt itself was in tatters but it still hung loosely from his neck nevertheless. 

Needless to say, 10k didn't look too great. Especially when he was so out-of-his-mind that even when a person came over to him, he barely took notice.

"Oh my gosh! Honey, are you okay?!" A woman came running over to him.

"Get away from him, he's a Z!" A man called after her, cocking his gun.

"He's not a Z, he's just a boy!"

"Look at those wounds, no boy could survive that! Move out of the way and I'll mercy him."

Another person came into eyeshot, a man with a face far less kind than the woman who had looked at him with concern. It took all of 10k's energy to turn his head toward them, but when he tried to speak, to tell them that he wasn't dead, his words didn't find him.

"..M..murphy.."

The man in front of him stilled and lowered the gun he had pointed at him. He looked back at the woman with a shocked expression. "He spoke- he's alive-"

With those two words, the woman rushed forward and 10k felt arms around him. "We'll get you cleaned up, honey, you're safe with us." 

"Wait-" The man stepped forward and pulled the woman off of him. "He's been bit."

"What?" 

"On his shoulder, look," The man pointed to 10k's healed bite with the end of his gun. "And another one!" He lifted 10k's scrunched up shirt, revealing the second bite on his neck. He then looked 10k in the eyes. "How are you not dead, boy?"

10k pursed his lips, willing words to come out, but he was so weak that he wasn't sure he was even making any noise at all. "Murphy.."

The man's face lit up. "This is him." It sounded like he was in awe. "From the radio!" He breathed out, grinning over to the woman. 

"The Murphy?"

10k's head snapped toward her, suddenly full of life again. "Murphy!" He took a staggering step toward her. 

"Hey hey hey, back off, Zombie boy!" The man rose his gun again, pressing it against 10k's skull. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Another voice called out, followed by the sound of snarling and growling.

10k almost _sobbed_ upon hearing the familiar voice, something that seemed impossible given that he hated this man with his entire being- but that didn't stop him from frantically limping over to Murphy and falling against him as soon as he was close enough. 

" _Murphy_ -" That single word was full of so much relief.

Murphy let out an awkward chuckle. "Alright, kid-" He patted him on the back and tried to push 10k off of him.

10k squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed fistfuls of Murphy's shirt, far past the point of caring about how pathetic he must look at this moment. "Murphy," He leaned heavily against him, his body shaking with emotion.

"Hey! Watch the shirt, you're all bloody!" Murphy complained though he made no attempt to pull 10k off of him. He was staring down at 10k, not quite able to believe what he was seeing. He had thought 10k died before the nukes hit- he had thought that _he_ caused 10k's death. But here he was, clinging to his shirt for dear life, looking _like_ death, but still alive. 

He was worried about how different 10k was acting, how he couldn't push himself into the kid's mind because it was so all over the place, but right now he was just happy to see someone he knew that didn't want him just because of some bounty Citizen Z had sprung on him- he wondered if 10k even knew about it. If he didn't, he wasn't sure how to break it to him that now every single survivor of the apocalypse was looking for them _both_ to take to California.

"Murphy," 

10k's consistent mumbling of his name brought him back to reality. He patted the teens head and let out a breath, finally averting his gaze and looking at the man and woman who he had found 10k with. They were surrounded by Zombie's, courtesy of himself, but they weren't in any danger- unless they tried to escape.

"Right, almost forgot about you two." He let out a breathy laugh and looked back down to 10k. "Any suggestions?" 10k lifted his head to meet his eyes but just stared at him vacantly. "Not creepy at all," He mumbled, looking back at the man and woman. "Come along," 

Murphy nodded his head to the side and started walking, urging the Zombies to follow, herding the humans along behind them. 10k was stumbling next to him, still attached to his side. It made it harder to walk, but who was Murphy to deny a little physical touch? God knows nobody else would want to touch him, especially since he looked even bluer than before.

Murphy took 10k back to where he had been hiding out since he escaped the lab. That place just so happened to be a strip club full of Zombies in skimpy clothing with regularly dressed Z's sat around the bar.

10k didn't seem to take too much notice of anything, he just kept looking around blankly. It made Murphy even more concerned. 10k was quiet usually, but he never missed a chance to mess with Murphy or to point out how horrible his decisions are. His whole setup _screamed_ 'bad idea' but 10k didn't even seem bothered.

Murphy put his hands on 10k's shoulders and gently pushed him off of him, he had to shove a few times before 10k let go of his shirt. He crouched ever so slightly so they were at eye-level with each other and he looked into 10k's eyes to see if he could spot anything. He just looked.. _gone_.

With a sigh, Murphy turned 10k around and walked him over to a booth where he turned him again and sat him down. 

When he tried to walk away, 10k stood up again. 

Murphy narrowed his eyes and sat 10k back down. " _Stay_." He gave the order, though he still couldn't get inside of his head so he wasn't even sure if he would obey.

He had felt him earlier, heard 10k calling out to him through their mental connection, but then everything had gone dark and he couldn't feel him again. He had thought he was imagining it, still thinking that he was dead at the time.

But then he felt this _tug_ , an unexplained _need_ to go in a certain direction and he just couldn't ignore it. He had to be careful, everyone was out looking for him, so he gathered a crowd of Z's and hid in the middle of them. Eventually, he ran into 10k, at the right time too, that _human_ had held a gun to 10k's head and Murphy just couldn't have that.

Murphy turned around and looked toward the human couple in between the Zombies, he walked over slowly, head held high with confidence. He was in charge here and he wanted them to know it.

He pretended to not hear the footsteps coming up behind him, he knew it was 10k who had gotten up again. He also pretended not to get annoyed at that. 

Murphy let out a sigh and rubbed his chin, waiting until the Zombies hobbled away so he had a clear view of the man and woman. "What to do.. what to do.. what to do with you.." He hummed in thought and rose a brow. 

"Please, let us go, we won't tell anyone where you are-" The woman begged, only to be interrupted by the man.

"No, we need to get these two to California, you heard what the man on the radio said-"

"But-"

Murphy held up his hand, silencing them both. The Zombies started to growl quietly. "Nobody is taking us anywhere, we're perfectly happy here, thank you very much."

"Then let us go, please! W-we don't want to be a part of this!" The woman grabbed hold onto the man's arm.

Murphy made a face and sucked his teeth in disapproval. "Eugh, no can do, I'm afraid. You see, I don't _trust_ you.. and I _really_ don't want anyone to find my little gig here so uhh.. bye-bye." Murphy waved his hand and the Zombies attacked the couple. 

10k lurched forward to do the same but Murphy caught him by his shoulders. 

"Woah, no, not you. You gotta sit down before you.. fall apart, or something." He looked him up and down with a shake of his head. "And we have _got_ to give you a makeover, you look rough, even for the apocalypse."

Murphy steered 10k away from the Zombies and into the back room of the bar. Before stopping here he had gone on a 'shopping spree' and picked up quite a lot of different clothes and accessories from a large thrift shop. There were a couple of medium-sized piles around of semi-good looking clothes. Unfortunately, most of it was more Murphy's style and not meant for an edgy teen.

He let out a sigh as he sat 10k down on a chair. "Let's see what we have here.." He crouched down and sifted through the piles, taking some things out to hold them in front of 10k to see how they'd look on him. Honestly, Murphy thought 10k would look good in _anything_ he wore, but he was trying to pick out something that normal 10k wouldn't mind when he came back- _if_ he came back.

Eventually, he picked out a black tank top and some dark skinny jeans. He was pretty sure they were women's jeans but it's not like anyone would really care. He hadn't actually seen 10k wear anything that wasn't either baggy or camouflage before but if 10k was going to follow him around, which it seemed like he was, he needed to look _stylish_. The boots 10k currently wore didn't look too damaged so he figured they would work fine.

First, he had to clean 10k up a bit. Turning back to the male, he furrowed his brows. There was no water in his hideout but there _was_ plenty of alcohol- no, he couldn't.. could he? Murphy shook his head, no, he would _not_ clean 10k with alcohol. 

He just needed a little bit of water to wipe the blood off his chest and face, and then maybe try to get the dirt out from his hair, that's all. 

Murphy stood back up and clapped his hands. "Okay, time for a little trip. But first, you gotta swap those for these-" He pointed to 10k's cut-offs and then to the jeans. 

It was a struggle to get 10k into the jeans, mainly because 10k refused to cooperate and went limp, meaning Murphy had to do everything himself. It was hard enough trying to pull them on because they were so tight but it got even harder when 10k started to kick due to reflexes. But then they were on and Murphy could stand back and admire his work. He should have been a stylist, they fit 10k like a glove- and, _wow_ , 10k had long legs, skinny too, he hadn't noticed before.

Clearing his throat, Murphy looked away. He'd have to clean 10k's chest before he put the tank on him, so for now, 10k would have to remain shirtless. Which bugged Murphy out because he couldn't help but stare at all the bullet wounds- as well as the bite marks that 10k had. He wondered if that's how people felt toward him and his own bite marks.

Shaking his head and letting out a sigh, Murphy turned toward the door. Only, before he could open it, he froze. He couldn't feel the Zombies- and there had been at least a _dozen_ in the main room. That meant they had been mercied, and he would bet that whoever mercied them was still out there, waiting.

He pressed his ear against the door and listened- he could definitely hear someone. _"Shit,"_ He cursed quietly, turning away. Neither of them had any weapons on them and there was nothing in the room but clothes. "Damnit," He looked at 10k and stepped into his personal space, grabbing his face by the hands and looking him in the eye. "Kid, I need ya. I don't know who's out there but I'm betting that they want that bounty on us," He stared into his glazed eyes and bit his lower lip. "Come on," He pleaded.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He pushed forward, forcing himself into 10k's mind. It made both of them wince as they felt a sharp pain in their heads, but he shoved forward even more. 10k's brain was loud and choatic, tragic event on repeat everywhere he looked. He only lasted long enough for him to shout _10k_  into the void of the younger man's mind, then he was thrown out and both men fell to the floor. 10k was passed out and Murphy was on his back, head lifted so he could stare at him.

"Holy shit," He whispered before quickly getting to his feet. That bang must have notified whoever was outside because he heard footsteps coming up to the door. 

Then 10k was awake and alert, gasping as he sat up and frantically looked around the room with wide, fearful eyes. When said eyes landed on Murphy, 10k let out a breath of what Murphy hoped was relief. Seconds later, he was holding his head in his hands and crying out in pain. 

The next thing he knew, the door flung open and the sound of multiple guns cocking filled the small room.


	8. OLD AND NEW FRIENDS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!   
> I wrote this chapter quite quickly, I had a lot of fun! :)

Murphy's head whipped around to look to the door, where a man was stood holding two guns aimed at him and 10k.

Murphy slowly rose his arms and glanced over to 10k, who was still holding his head and whimpering. Murphy could feel part of the pain 10k was feeling and it made him slightly dizzy.

"Your name Murphy?" The man asked casually. 

Murphy shook his head. "Uh, nope.. no Murphy here," 

" _Murphy_ -" 10k gasped out, one of his hands grabbing out to squeeze Murphy's wrist. 

Murphy cursed but he didn't have time to be mad at 10k before his concern doubled in size, 10k was holding onto him so tight that it hurt.

The man rose a brow. " _Really_? And let me guess, that's not 10k." He scoffed and nodded toward 10k. "What's up with him?"

As he said that, 10k let out a pained cry and Murphy had to pry 10k's hand off of his wrist before he snapped it. 

"How the hell should I know?! Who are you, anyway?"

"The name's Vasquez, I'm a bounty hunter." Vasquez lowered the gun that he had on 10k and crouched down in front of him. "Hey, kid, you hear me?"

"What are you doing?" Murphy asked warily, watching him get closer to 10k. This would be a perfect opportunity for 10k to attack Vasquez and let them escape- but Murphy couldn't get into his mind to make him do it.

"I'm gonna try to get him to shut up." Vasquez sent Murphy a glare. "I don't want anybody else finding you two, you're my prisoners." 

"Hold on a second, we are not _anybody's_ prisoners," Murphy interjected.

Vasquez pressed the gun in his left hand against Murphy's head. "Shut up." He waited until Murphy nodded before he pulled the gun away, though he still kept it aimed in his direction. "10k." He snapped his fingers in front of the younger male's face. " _Hey_!"

Vasquez yelled the last part, causing 10k's body to jerk and his head to snap in his direction. Murphy could feel the secondhand pain he felt disappearing and he hoped that meant 10k's was disappearing too. He had stopped crying so he assumed that was a good thing.

10k's eyes frantically searched the strangers face, panic rising the more certain he was that he didn't know this man. 

Before 10k could act on that panic, Murphy spoke up. "10k," 

His head turned toward the older man. "What's happening? How did I get here?" His voice was hoarse due to his screaming. He then turned back to face the stranger. "Who's that? Where's Warren?"

Murphy gave him a pitying look. He knew 10k hadn't been aware of his surroundings earlier but hearing just how _much_ he had lost made Murphy's chest ache. 

Vasquez stood back up, ignoring all but one of 10k's questions. "I'm a bounty hunter. I'm going to collect the bounty on your heads."

That made 10k even more confused. "Bounty? What is he talking about?" 10k turned to Murphy again, looking for answers.

"You missed a lot, kid," Murphy spoke gloomily.

"Don't worry, you two will have a lot of time to catch up on the way. Come on, let's go." Vasquez raised both guns, pointing one at each of them.

"On the way where?" Murphy stood up and glared at him. After a few seconds, 10k stood up too. 

"To the highest bidder," Vasquez smirked. "Now move it, I have a truck out front."

Murphy looked to the side toward 10k. He still looked like hell, why couldn't have Vasquez have shown up after he gave him a makeover? Poor kid would have to keep looking like a bloody mess. 

Vasquez started to walk and he urged 10k and Murphy to do the same. Before they walked out of the room, though, Murphy picked up the tank top he had selected for 10k earlier and passed it to him. 

10k looked momentarily confused before he realised he was shirtless and then he gave Murphy a grateful nod. After that, they headed outside and got into Vasquez's pickup truck.

Once they were inside, Vasquez taped their wrists together with duct tape.

Murphy had spent a short while explaining to 10k what had happened. He spoke about running away from the lab, finding the stripper Zombies, and then running into 10k and bringing him back to the strip club. 

He also described to 10k what he was like when he was in 'Zombie Mode', saying that he was acting even stranger than normal and how he couldn't control him.

10k had asked about the others but Murphy simply shook his head and said he hadn't seen them. 

After that, they sat in silence for a bit. 

10k was in the backseat, laying down and trying to sleep. It wasn't exactly the most ideal time to catch up on sleep but Murphy could still sense how weak 10k was and he was scared the kid might drop dead if he pushed on for much longer.

So that left Murphy and Vasquez in the front of the truck. Murphy did his best to annoy him, asking the same questions over and over again and complaining even more than usual. It got to the point where Vasquez got so irritated he used the last of his duct tape to tape Murphy's mouth shut. 

With nothing else to do, Murphy rolled down his window and rested his chin in the palm of his hand, his elbow handing out the window. 

He spent hours just watching the roads go by, idly listening to 10k's mind. Since he snapped back into reality earlier, 10k's brain had gradually returned to the neutral state in which Murphy was able to hear his thoughts.

He tried to help the kid out a bit, pushing into his mind ever so slightly so he could figure out what the hell had happened. It was always easier getting into his brain when 10k was asleep- he wondered if he somehow knew Murphy was there. He wasn't able to figure out what had happened exactly, but given that Murphy once again saw the list of tragic events that had happened in the past month replaying, he could make a guess.

Murphy closed his eyes and delved deeper into 10k's mind, making the boy stir behind him. He felt guilty, he could easily see that he was the cause of 10k's struggles so he wanted to do something to help.

He worked around in 10k's mind, pushing the distressing memories back a bit, just so that he would be able to focus more and not have to relive everything anytime something similar happened. That's something that Murphy could tell had been happening as Murphy also got the flashbacks whenever 10k had. 

He didn't want to mess around _too_ much as he wasn't exactly an expert at this stuff. So, once he was sure that he would have given 10k at least  _some_ relief from his past, Murphy slipped free from his mind and returned to the present, opening his eyes. 

He could tell a difference in 10k immediately, he could sense him relax and he seemed to slink into a more peaceful slumber, letting out a quiet sigh. Murphy couldn't help but smile, glancing over at him.

Letting out an overdramatic sigh, Murphy sat back in his seat and rolled his head to the side to look at Vasquez. He sighed again to get his attention.

"What?" Vasquez asked, already annoyed.

Murphy mumbled behind the tape. Vasquez let out a sigh and pulled the truck to a stop, turning toward Murphy and ripping the tape off of his mouth. Murphy hissed. "Ow!"

Vasquez rolled his eyes. " _What_?"

Murphy rubbed at his mouth. "I need to pee." 

Vasquez narrowed his eyes and silently him an empty water bottle.

Murphy looked at it and grimaced. "Gross, I'm not peeing into a bottle,"

Vasquez shrugged and faced forward. "Then hold it." He started the car again.

"Wait! Can't you pull in somewhere, there's got to be a bathroom around here!"

Vasquez let out a frustrated grunt. " _No_. If you're that desperate, go in the bottle. We're not stopping until we get you to-" Vasquez had looked away from the road for a second and in that second, they crashed head-on with another car. 

10k jolted awake. "Murphy?!" 

Murphy could hear the panic in the kid's voice. He tried not to feel too smug about the fact that his name was the first thing he had said. "I'm okay-" 

Vasquez groaned from the driver's seat and pulled his gun out, aiming and shooting through the windshield at the other car. 

Murphy could see people jumping out from said car and surrounding their pickup truck. "Shit, keep your head down, 10k.." 

10k couldn't protest, he followed Murphy's words without a second thought. It hadn't even been an order and yet he was doing it anyway. He really had changed.

All four car doors were yanked open at the same time and in front of all but one of the doors was a person with a weapon. Two of those people lowered their weapons.

" _Murphy_?!" 

"Warren?"

"10k?!"

"Doc!"

" _10k_?!" 

"Warren! Addy!"

"10k!"

10k hastily got out of the car and threw his arms around Doc, hugging him tightly. Doc was almost breaking down in tears as he held onto the younger boy, but he pulled away from the hug so he could cut the duct tape around his wrists. 

Murphy, meanwhile, was still sat in the passenger side of the car, staring sheepishly at Warren. But then she cut the duct tape around his wrists and gave him a short hug before letting him stand.

"Uh, guys?" Addy spoke up, her gun still trained on Vasquez. "What about him?"

Murphy hissed. "He kidnapped us! Told us that we were his _prisoners_!"

Vasquez got out of the car slowly and he glared at Murphy from over the top. 

"Yeah.. apparently there's some kind of bounty of us." 10k nodded with a frown.

Doc shook his head. "Nevermind that, kid, I'm just happy to see your face! Even if it is covered in blood."

10k furrowed his brows. "What?" He then turned to look at his reflection in the car window. He touched the dried blood around his mouth and tried to scratch parts of it off.

Doc patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll get you cleaned up."

"Yeah, as soon as we deal with _him_." Warren nodded toward Vasquez. 

"He's got ammo, protective vest, good boots. Could be useful." Addy shrugged.

Warren hummed and walked around the car so she could see Vasquez. "What do you want with Murphy and 10K?"

Vasquez rolled his eyes. "Just what the kid said, the bounty."

Doc chuckled in disbelief. "What, were you gonna take 'em to California all on your own?"

It was Vasquez's turn to laugh. He looked toward Doc when he spoke. "Lotta people willing to pay for their blood. I'd give 'em to whoever paid the most."

Warren shook her head. "That's not happening anymore. Murphy is _our_ prisoner. 10k is a friend. You get neither of them."

Murphy glared at her. " _Hey_!"

10k was grateful for the small difference between him and Murphy. They had been clumped together a lot recently and it was nice to know that he wasn't viewed as another Murphy.

 _Rude_. 

10k heard the word in the back of his mind and his eyes widened ever so slightly. He hadn't heard anything from Murphy since the before the nukes, a part of him thought that maybe him almost dying had broken whatever _bond_ they shared. It brought a strange comfort to know that it wasn't gone.

"I'm not leaving," Vasquez spoke up, still confident even with guns still aimed at him. "Besides, even if _I_ don't get them, someone else will come to take them. Whole world's looking for them now."

Murphy grumbled. "Thanks a lot, Citizen Z! _Thanks_ , buddy!" He yelled out, spinning around and looking in every direction just in case there was some way Citizen Z was hearing or seeing this.

"I am getting this man to the CDC lab in California so they can make a vaccine from his blood. Nothing- human, Zombie, or anything else- is not going to stop me." Warren glared at him and poked his chest.

"And the bounty?" Vasquez rose a brow.

"I don't give a _damn_ about the bounty. We're doing this to bring an end to the apocalypse, not to get paid! " She scoffed at him. 

"Then let me come along." Warren squinted at him. "I'll assist you in getting them to California, you let me take the bounty."

Warren thought over Vasquez's offer, looking at each of the group to see how they felt about it, and then after a minutes thought, she nodded. "We do this, you follow my rules. Got it?" Vasquez nodded. "Okay. You can come with us."

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" Murphy protested. "He kidnapped me and 10k!"

Warren looked over to 10k. "You okay with this?"

10k shrugged. "I don't care."

Warren nodded again. "Okay, it's settled. We go to California together, bounty hunter gets the bounty."

"My nam-"

"His name's _Vasquez_." Murphy mocked, not wanting him to have the honour of introducing himself. 

"Alright, well, let's go find a car. I don't think these could run again," She glanced to the crashed cars. 

Everyone agreed and they started walking together as a group. 10k explained to the others what Murphy had told him earlier, leaving out the part about him getting stuck in 'Zombie Mode'. Murphy noticed but he didn't bring it up. 

Doc then filled 10k and Murphy in on their version of the story. They had barely managed to escape the lab before it had started counting down from half a minute. Doc hadn't let them leave 10k in the lab, wanting to give him a proper burial since they thought he was dead, so Mack carried him out. 

Only, they had to leave 10k on the road before they sped away in a car as there wasn't enough time to get him into the car. 10k had assured them that it was okay, he survived it anyway. 

After a few minutes, 10k spoke up again, voice hesitant and quiet. "Hey.. uh," He looked over toward Addy. "..where's Mack?"

Addy stopped walking and she looked over to 10k slowly. Warren had noticed and she stopped walking too, causing the others to pause. Addy took in a breath and smiled sadly. "He didn't make it." 

10k nodded. He had his suspicions when he hadn't seen him at the crash, but he had hoped that it wasn't the case. "..can I ask how?"

"After the blast.. Mack fell." She let out a sorrowful laugh. "He survived the nukes only to slip and fall and impale himself on some damn pipe sticking out from the ground." She reached up to wipe the tears that had gathered in her eyes, sniffling as she did so. 

10k pulled her into a hug, which she gratefully accepted. "Without him, I would've been blown up with the lab. I wish I could tell him thanks."

Addy pulled away from the hug and saw that 10k had teared up too. She cupped his cheek with her hand. "He knows." She whispered and kissed his cheek. 

10k nodded and the tears fell from his eyes. They hugged again, longer this time, then pulled away and continued to walk after a minute of getting themselves together.

Murphy glanced over to him, he could feel the grief emitting off of him in waves. _Hey_.

10k lifted his head and looked over to him. _What?_

_Are you okay?_

10k furrowed his brows. It was strange to hear that question coming from Murphy, he wasn't exactly the _caring_ type. _Fine_.

Murphy fought the urge to roll his eyes. _No, you're not. I can feel what you feel._

10k averted his gaze. _Then you already know the answer to your question._

Murphy could tell after that that he didn't want to talk anymore- at least not in their minds. He knew that it weirded 10k out and that it reminded him of much he had changed. 

So, he didn't speak again, instead choosing to just observe him as he walked not too far behind.


	9. KARAOKE NIGHT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> update a bit later than usual as i had a friend over for the past 3 days and couldn't write  
> hope this makes up for it :)

"Over there!" Doc called out, pointing to a garage.

The group had been walking for a few hours looking for a salvageable car and had so far gotten nothing. The garage was like a godsend.

"Perfect." Warren nodded and motioned for everyone to follow her. 

They walked up to the garage and started to inspect everything. There were at least five different vehicles around, in different states. The most promisable one was inside the garage and looked to have been in the middle of a repair. 

"You good with mechanics?" Warren directed her question to Vasquez. who nodded in reply. "Good. Start working, see if you get this up and running." She patted the car hood. "Everyone else, look for supplies, we'll stay here until we have a car. And, uh, 10k, go get cleaned up. There must be a bathroom around here you can use."

10k nodded sheepishly and ducked his head, walking through a door in the garage that led to a connecting bar. He thought that was an odd choice, putting mechanics and alcohol together, but he shrugged it off. 

Murphy, Addy, and Doc had followed him through the door and were also looking around.

"Oh look!" Doc hopped onto a small stage to the side of the room. "A karaoke machine!" He let out a laugh. "Big one, too, haven't seen one like this since the '70s!"

"Booze," Addy let out a breath and rushed behind the bar, crouching down and taking out multiple glasses. "Who's up for a drink?" She asked with a wicked grin.

Doc rose his hand. "Me please."

"This place is better than your strip club, Murphy," 10k mumbled, running his hand over the bartop.

Curious glances were sent his way from Addy and Doc. "What?"

"You remember that?" Murphy asked, walking over to him. 

10k shrugged. "Kinda. Vaguely."

"Then how do you know it's better if you can't remember?"

"I just do." 10k squinted then turned away from him, facing Addy instead. "I'm gonna go clean up in the bathroom. Got anything I could use?"

Addy looked around the bar, crouching again to look at the shelves. "Uhh.. here." She stood up and handed him a worn rag, along with a small bottle of vodka.

10k rose a brow. "Why this?" He held up the bottle.

Addy shrugged. "Disinfectant."

10k wasn't about to tell her that his wounds had already healed despite it being less than a day since he had reopened them, so he nodded and went into the bathroom to clean himself with the rag.

"Testing.. testing.. 123.." Doc tapped the mic to the old karaoke machine and grinned when feedback boomed through the speakers. He then brought the mic closer to his face. "My name is Doc, I will be your DJ for the night."

Addy walked over to the stage, holding a glass filled with brown liquid. "Your drink, Mr DJ. That'll be $3."

Doc played along, patting his pockets and then shrugging. "I seem to have misplaced my wallet, can I pay in.." He brought his hand out from his pocket, miscellaneous items in his palm. "..buttons?"

Addy rose a brow and took the buttons. "I'll allow it. Enjoy." She handed him the drink then walked back to the bar.

"Can I get something?" Murphy asked, sitting down onto one of the barstools, resting his elbows on the bar top.

"You got money?" She tilted her head and tapped the counter with her fingers, awaiting his reply.

"Uh, no. But I _do_ have.." Murphy took out a keychain from his pocket. It had a naked woman on it. He had gotten it from the strip club. "This?"

Addy scowled. "No thanks." She walked off from the bar and took a seat at a table near the wall, sitting down just as a song started to play crackily through the speakers. After a few seconds, Doc started to sing along.

Murphy rolled his eyes and leaned over to grab a bottle of something from behind the bar. He then turned the stool so he was facing the stage. "Boo!" He called out before taking a swig of his drink.

Doc sent him a glare but carried on singing.

Not long later, 10k emerged from the bathroom looking far cleaner than he had been. The blood was gone from his face, neck, and from what you could see, from his chest too. His hair was damp, an indication that he had attempted to wash his hair also.

Murphy turned to look him up and down slowly. Yeah, that outfit looked _much_ better without the blood. He was once again proud of his styling skills.

10k caught him staring and sent him a glare. Before either of them could speak, however, Doc spoke up. "Hey, kid! Looking fresh!"

10k moved his eyes over to him. He gave a forced smile then hovered around the bar not too far from Murphy. Once Doc started to sing again, 10k poured himself a glass of- something. The label was too ruined to read.

"You sure you should have that? Remember how you passed out last time." Murphy's voice came up before 10k could take a sip.

10k looked at him with an annoyed expression. "I passed out because of the drugs."

Murphy mock gasped. "Drugs _and_ alcohol?! I think 10k's going through his rebellious phase,"

10k glared at him as he sipped at the drink. "You know what I mean. Shut up."

Murphy rose a brow. "I'm only joking." He scoffed and turned away from 10k, facing Doc on the stage as he sang a new song. "Maybe you _should_ drink, it'll help you calm down a little."

10k wasn't done yet. He slammed his glass down on the bartop, making heads turn to him. "If you want me to calm down then why don't you just _make_ me like you make me do everything else?!"

Addy sat up in her seat and leaned forward a bit. "What do you mean by that, 10k? Are you okay? What's he making you do?"

10k was confused by the concern in her voice but Murphy spoke before he could ask about it. "Nothing like _that_! Jeez, pervert."

They could still hear Doc mumbling lyrics in the background.

Addy narrowed her eyes and rose her bat. "Better not be, I will pike you if I have to."

Letting out an almost silent groan, 10k rolled his eyes and turned back to the bar. He refilled his glass with the same alcohol he had poured before.

"You can't _pike_ me. I'm the mission, remember?" Murphy scoffed.

Addy sat back in her seat with an evil smirk. "I don't give a shit about the mission anymore. Mack's gone." She shrugged and lifted her own glass, taking a long gulp.

Seeing Addy drink, 10k joined in. He tilted his head back and down his glass within seconds.

Murphy had been about to reply to Addy but he was now distracted with 10k. "Woah, slow down a bit, kid. You're still new to drinking."

10k felt his hands clench and he glared at him once again. "Stop telling me what to do, you don't _control_ me!" His voice was already slightly slurred, only proving Murphy's point. "I am so.. _mad_ at you!" He spat out, frustration clear in his tone and expression.

Murphy scoffed yet again. "Well, at least that's _something_ that hasn't changed."

That seemed to have pressed 10k's buttons even more, Murphy felt it. Before he knew it, there was a glass smashing against his head and he was swaying slightly on his feet.

"10k!" Addy snapped.

Doc stopped singing, coming out of his daze in time to see Murphy holding his head as blood dripped from his forehead. "..Woah.."

Warren and Vasquez jogged into the room with their weapons raised. "What's going on? We heard yelling and a smash?" Warren asked, before stopping in her tracks to take in the scene in front of her.

10k slowly backed away from Murphy, a little unsteady on his feet. "I'm sorry-" He choked out, eyes wide in shock at what he had just done.

Murphy lifted his head and looked 10k in the eyes. Surprisingly, he wasn't mad. Annoyed, in pain, and a little impressed, but not mad. "You.. _hit_ me?" It was more of a question, he was quite unable to believe what had just happened.

"I'm sorry," 10k repeated, turning and hurrying through a door to the storage room.

Addy stood up before anyone else could move. "I got him." She jogged after 10k, grabbing another bottle from the bar as she went by.

Letting out a sigh, Warren looked at Murphy. "What did you do?"

Murphy grumbled, dabbing his head with a cloth from behind the bar. "Nothing." All Warren had to do was give him a look and Murphy spoke again. "I just _annoyed_ him a little. He got mad and.. threw his drink at me."

" _10k_ threw his drink at you?" She rose a brow. That didn't sound like 10k.

"I saw it," Doc whispered, though it still came through loud because of the microphone. 

Warren turned to him with a raised brow. It wasn't that hard to tell that he wasn't sober "Okay.. well is he okay?"

"Who are we talking about?" Doc asked.

"10k." Murphy chuckled. "And, yes, he's _fine_. Little frustrated, in shock, and tired, but he's alright- in apocalypse standards, anyway."

"I'm not gonna ask for you know that." Warren rose a brow. 

Murphy waved her off. "Go back to fixing our ride, we'll be in here drinking."

Warren shook her head in exasperation and she and Vasquez returned to the garage. 

The bar was silent after that for a few minutes, the only sound being Murphy stepping over the broken glass and pouring himself another drink.

Doc leaned into the mic, still stood on the stage. "..You wanna do a duet?"

Murphy glared over at him but after a few seconds, he shrugged and tilted his head. "Sure."

In the storage room, 10k was sat on the floor with his knees drawn up to his chest. When Addy walked in, she sat down next to him with a sigh.

"I didn't mean to do that," 10k spoke, turning to look at her.

"Hey, if you wouldn't have done it, I would of." She tried to lighten the mood with a joke. 

"I was just so.. _mad_." He rested his chin on his knee. "And I feel weird.. kinda.." He trailed off, unable to find the right word.

"Floaty?" Addy asked with an amused smile. 

"Yeah!" 10k lifted his head and nodded. "How'd you know?"

Addy patted his knee. "You're _tipsy_. It's not surprising that you threw your glass, it's what every drunk person does when they're angry."

"Huh.." 10k nodded again and frowned.

Addy rose a brow. "You okay?"

10k let out a sigh and shook his head. "I can feel him."

Addy blinked in confusion. " _What_? Who?"

10k looked over at her and stretched his legs out, leaning back against the wall. " _Murphy_. In my head, I can _feel_ him."

Addy looked even more confused. "Um, explain."

10k shrugged. "It's like.." He furrowed his brows. "Like that feeling you get when you're in a room and it has cameras. You just.. _know_ someone is watching. Or.. listening, in my case."

Addy turned her body so she faced him. "Can he hear you?"

"I don't know exactly.. we haven't spoken about it much. But I know he can hear my thoughts sometimes, we talk in our minds." Addy looked impressed. "I also see him in my dreams."

Addy snorted. "You _dream_ of _Murphy_?"

10k squinted at her. "Not purposely! He's just.. there!"

"Does he do anything? In the dreams?"

10k shook his head again. "Not really.. he always looks busy, like he's doing something but I don't know what." 

Addy let out a breath. "Weird."

10k agreed. "Yeah, that's why I'm so.. pissed off!" Addy hadn't heard him curse before, even 10k looked shocked that he said that. " _Angry_.. why I'm so angry." He corrected himself. "Everywhere I look.. there's just _Murphy_. It's like I can't escape him. Literally, because if I _do_ escape him then I'll just space out and run after him again." 10k's frown deepened.

Addy nodded. "Yeah, that would drive me crazy too."

10k averted his gaze. "I'm sorry." His voice was quiet and sad.

Addy tilted her head. "What for?"

"You shouldn't be comforting me, _I_ should be comforting you.." 

Addy moved closer and put an arm around 10k's shoulders. "Hey, you _being_ _here_ is giving me all the comfort I need. I'm so glad you survived and that we found you. Even though I don't quite understand _how_ you survived."

"Don't ask me, I'm just as in the dark as you are," 10k mumbled.

Addy leaned her head against his. "We'll figure it out. Or at least try to."

10k nodded and let out a breath. "Yeah. Thanks, Addy."

Addy smiled and pressed a kiss to his head. "You're welcome, little bro. Now, come on, let's go get you another drink, I need to know what type of drunk you are." She chuckled as she got to her feet, helping 10k up too.

10k smiled despite still not feeling all that good, and together, they walked back out into the main room of the bar. 

The sight that they were greeted with immediately made any anger or awkwardness anyone was feeling disappear completely.

On stage, Doc and Murphy were taking turns leaning into the mic as they belted out a song together. 

"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT!" Doc shouted rather than sang.

Followed by a "YOU ARE THE ONE I WANT!" from Murphy.

And then they leant into the mic together. "OO-OO-OO, HONEY!"

Addy and 10k burst out laughing and 10k started clapping. Addy grabbed her and 10k a drink and they headed over to the table nearest the stage. 

They spent the night taking turns singing songs from the '70s on the karaoke machine. The music was glitchy and would sometimes cut out, which only made things more hilarious. 

Addy sang 'Dancing Queen', swinging her bat around as she pranced around the small stage. 10k followed that with his less enthusiastic version of 'Carry On Wayward Son' in which he more spoke the lyrics instead of sung them, though he did try to sing near the end but his voice broke and it made him too embarrassed to continue.

Warren walked back into the room, looking slightly annoyed. "This is nice and everything, I'm glad you're all having a good time, but if you keep going at this volume you're going to attract Z's. Or humans." She spoke more to Doc than anyone else. "How is that thing still working anyway? There's no power."

Doc looked proud of himself. "I hooked it up to a car battery."

Warren's eye twitched. "You- we could have _used_ that battery and have gotten out of here by now!"

Doc shrugged. "I thought we could use a break from the road and have some fun." 

Warren narrowed her eyes but then looked around the room. Over at a table, Addy, 10k, and Murphy were sat drinking and talking. Murphy started to laugh at something and she saw that it made 10k smile. 

Turning back to Doc, Warren let out a sigh. "Yeah, okay. That was a good idea." She gave him a small smile. They had all been through a lot recently and it was nice to not have to worry for once.

Doc returned the smile and held out the mic. "You wanna do a song?"

Warren shook her head. "No thanks."

Murphy seemed to pick the right moment to listen in on the conversation. "Oh, come on, Warren! You're our _leader_ , you _have_ to do a song!"

Addy joined in. "Yeah, come on, just one, _please_? It'll make us all so happy!"

10k didn't say anything but Warren could tell just from the look on his face that he wanted her to sing too. 

" _Fine_!" Warren snatched the mic from Doc and stepped onto the stage. "Just _one_! Then no more, we really gotta be careful about attracting people."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, just _sing_!" Murphy insisted.

Warren shook her head before starting to sing as the music played. "At first I was afraid, I was petrified-" 

Doc had joined the trio and sat down at a table, they all turned their chairs to watch her, each of them had a wide smile on their faces. 

Vasquez entered the room just as she reached the chorus, he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, the corner of his lip turning up into a slight smirk.

It turns out that Addy got the answer to her question, too. After only one more drink, 10k was officially drunk. He was a goofy drunk, he would lean on whoever was closest and laugh at everything, even making jokes that nobody but him seemed to understand. 

At some point later on, 10k and Murphy ended up sitting by each other in a booth. 10k was slumped against him with his head resting on his shoulder, mumbling about anything that came to mind. Murphy couldn't tell what he was saying but he didn't care that much, it was just nice to not have 10k mad at him anymore.

It was weird to be glad about that as he hadn't really cared whenever 10k was mad at him in the past. Maybe  _he_ was changing too.


	10. ZOMBIE ROAD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey so just a quick admin note  
> i'm starting to write longer chapters and that means the updates will be spaced apart a bit more because i'm writing as i go and sometimes i don't have much time to write outside of my personal life  
> i'm sorry about that! but, anyway, i hope you are enjoying reading so far!  
> :) - H

After the karaoke night, the gang hit the road again and carried on as usual. Well, as usual as they could with 10k spacing out again. 

He seemed to be getting worse, he barely spoke anymore and he would only respond to Murphy's voice. There were moments when he would snap back into reality but they were few and far between.

It was concerning, especially once they realised that 10k hadn't been eating or drinking much if not anything. They weren't sure if he was sleeping, either, he had bags under his eyes that seemed almost black- but Murphy assured them that 10k was okay. 

He _was_ in his head, after all. The pair looked to be getting along better than ever, although that was just probably due to the fact 10k was following Murphy's every move. Literally. 

10k had been pretty much attached to Murphy's side ever since the blast. It made the others wonder if 10k almost dying seemed to.. _intensify_ the bond between them. There were some moments when 10k had even _growled_ at people who got too close to Murphy. 

But, in those moments when 10k was 10k, he was fine. He still acted as if Murphy's existence annoyed him, he still joked around with Doc and Addy, and he still shot like a champ. That restored their faith that he wasn't _completely_ gone. 

At one point, 10k was so far into Zombie Mode that his eyes had changed from the usual glazed over to wild and feral with spotted pupils like the Z's. Doc had started to mourn the 10k he knew but Warren had said that _maybe there's a way back for him when we reach California_.

That renewed his hope and they carried on.

But, they only lasted a week and then they were in trouble again. 

While trekking through a forest to get to a lake, an unnaturally fast Zombie had sprung up out of nowhere and split the group up. 

They went running in three different directions to escape the flesh-eating whirlwind that chased after them; Warren and Addy went deeper into the forest, Vasquez seized Murphy and darted into a field of tall grass, Doc yanked 10k by his shirt and dragged him toward a hill.

Once they were sure the Zombie wasn't behind them, Warren and Addy came to a stop and caught their breath. "Shit!" Warren cursed. "Did you see where the others went?"

Addy panted. "I saw Vasquez grab Murphy but that's it."

"I don't trust him." Warren shook her head and Addy sent her a confused look, silently asking who. "Vasquez. How do we know he won't use this to his advantage and go collect the bounty by himself?"

"10k wouldn't let him get that far." Addy protested.

"That just means he'll get them both."

Addy bit her lip in worry. "Let's hope Doc is with them."

Not too far away, on the top of a hill, Doc _was_ with 10k. Only, 10k was trying to run off in the opposite direction Doc was tugging him in, most likely to go find Murphy, and as helpful as that would be, they had other priorities. 

"Kid, come on! You need to keep moving, the Zombie is behind us!" Doc begged, panic evident in his voice as he pulled 10k's forearms.

10k let out what could only be described as an animalistic growl as he swung around and tried to snap at Doc's hands where they grasped his wrists.

Doc let 10k go out of shock and he looked wide-eyed at 10k's face, noticing that his pupils had once again mimicked those of a Zombie's. "Did you just try to bite me?!" He yelled, not realising the mistake of raising his voice.

Suddenly, the scarily mobile Zombie reached the top of the hill and threw itself onto Doc, the two of them tumbling down the other side of the hill in mess of snarling and screaming. 

10k sprung into action, skidding down the hill and tackling the Zombie off of Doc before it could bite him. A barbaric ferocity overcame him and soon 10k was delivering countless brutal punches to the back of the Zombie's head until it caved in and its brain became nothing more than slimy mush.

By the time he was done, Doc had stood back up and was staring at 10k in wary amazement. He let out a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, that's _one_ way to do it."

10k's clothes and exposed skin was once again splattered with blood and his hands were painted red with a mixture of his and the Z's blood. 10k's knuckles were definitely broken, you could tell from just one look, but they were already healing and Doc knew they would be good as new within a few hours.

10k finally looked away from the beaten Z and he glanced up at Doc. " _Murphy_ ," He heaved, head turning in a different direction before he shot up and started sprinting. 

Doc hurried after him. "WAIT!"

Over in an abandoned village, Vasquez tied Murphy's wrists together with a piece of rope he had found inside an old house. 

"Is this _really_ necessary?" Murphy drawled, looking at Vasquez with a raised brow.

Vasquez glanced around warily before he met Murphy's eyes. He sent him a glare. "I can't have you escaping, you're my prisoner now."

Murphy rolled his eyes in response to that. "Shouldn't we be trying to regroup with Warren and the others?"

Vasquez grabbed his tied wrists in a rough grasp. "I don't care about them, I'm taking you the rest of the way all by myself." He hissed out. Murphy gulped. "Now do that VooDoo shit you do with 10k and find him so I can collect the full bounty."

Murphy felt a sliver of fear. He could already feel that 10k was on his way over to him, he had been calling out to him for Christ's sake! He was leading the kid into a trap and he hadn't even known.

Murphy attempted a laugh, though it came out cautious. "You're not serious-"

Vasquez looked him dead in the eyes and pulled out his pocketknife, pressing the tip against Murphy's throat. "Bring him here."

Murphy nodded jerkily and leaned backwards. "Okay, okay! I'll do it, just put the knife down, I have to concentrate!"

Vasquez hesitated a second but took his knife away.

Murphy let out a nervous breath. "Thank you." He then cleared his throat and closed his eyes. Having had 10k already on his mental radar, he easily slipped into his mind. He was immediately greeted by 10k's frantic, worrisome thoughts, as well as a feeling of dread.

_Murphy!_

Murphy knew that 10k would have gained more information about where he was due to the shared connection so he didn't have much time to waste. He had barely stopped Doctor Kurian from getting his hands on 10k, there was no way he was risking Vasquez having the chance. 

_Stop. Do not find me. Stay away._

He could feel 10k wanting to protest. He knew that 10k's head must hurt from trying to disobey the order.

_STAY AWAY, 10K. STAY AWAY._

Murphy's voice held more force than he had ever used before, cementing those instructions into 10k's brain.

10k stopped running just as he reached the outskirts of the village. He stood in the same position, looking around with a confused expression on his face as if he didn't know what was going on. 

Doc jogged up behind him, stopping and standing with his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. "Slow down! Jeez, kid, you're gonna make me have a heart attack!" 10k didn't move. Doc regained his breath and then walked over to him, carefully grabbing his arm. "Kid?"

10k turned his head toward him but there was no recognition in his eyes. He didn't have the Zombie-like pupils anymore so Doc considered that a plus. 

Frowning, Doc gave 10k's arm a gentle tug. "Come on, we gotta go back and look for the others."

They were able to walk back to the place the group had originally split up at without any more trouble. 10k was back to spacing out again and it made Doc feel uneasy seeing him so unresponsive.. but he guessed this was better than having him fighting and sprinting off again.

As they trudged down the road, the pair heard a honking sound and turned to see a semi-truck heading toward them.

Fearing they would mistake 10k for a Z, Doc quickly took off his jacket and put it on 10k so it would cover his bite marks and bloody arms. The sleeves were a bit too long so they also managed to hide his broken hands.

As the truck came to a stop in front of them, a man with a gun stepped out from the front. "Get off my road!" He yelled, cocking his gun and aiming it at them.

Doc jumped to put his hands in the air to show they were no threat. He then had to grab 10k's arms and put them in the air too since he still was unaware of his surroundings. "I'm sorry sir, we're looking for our friends! We got split up because of some freaky, crazy, stupid fast Zombie and we're kinda lost!" Doc called out. 

After a moment, the man lowered his gun. "That's a Blaster."

Doc tilted his head to the side. "A what?"

The man started walking closer and Doc lowered his arms. "Killed by the blast, or mutated by the radiation. There's something wrong with those Zombies."

Doc scoffed. "No shit!"

"They hunt in packs, ugly as they are fast, they're probably watching up right now." The man spared a second to glance around before he extended his arm out toward Doc. "Sam Custer."

Doc shuddered at his words and shook his hand. "I'm Doc, this is 10k."

Sam rose a brow over to 10k, who was still stood with his arms in the air. "He okay?"

Doc hurriedly put 10k's arms down again. "Yeah, yeah, he's okay. Just a bit.. uh, mentally fried." 

Sam nodded knowingly. "Ah. We got one like that too, he could keep your boy company." Doc started to protest but Sam was already calling out. "Wrecking Ball! Get over here!"

A chubby guy with a cheery smile and helmet hair made his way over. He enthusiastically shook Doc and 10k's hands. "Hey, guys!"

Sam cast a displeased look over to Wrecking Ball. "Take care of 10k here while I speak to Doc."

Wrecking Ball nodded and grabbed onto 10k's arm, carefully pulling him off toward a car that was behind the truck. 

Before they got too far, though, Doc grabbed onto 10k's other arm and smiled gingerly. "That's kind of you but I think I should stick with the kid. I'm a bit protective." He chuckled tensely. 

Sam nodded and waved Wrecking Ball away. "Understandable." Somehow, Doc didn't quite believe that. "So," He let out a breath. "You say you got split up from your friends?"

It was Doc's turn to nod now. "Yeah, have you seen 'em? There's a red-head with a spiky bat, uh, a scary lady with a big machete and a gun, a tall guy with a bulletproof vest on, and a, uh, blue guy."

"A blue guy?" Sam furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Long story.. but, yeah, he's blue."

Sam shook his head. "No, haven't seen anything like that, I'm afraid. You're welcome to come along with us, see if you find your friends along the way. You won't get too far on foot."

Doc let out a sigh but he nodded. "May as well. Where ya heading?"

Sam turned and started to walk, urging the pair to follow. "Edmonton. Trying to outrun the fallout."

"Edmonton? Well, alright."

"You two can ride with Wrecking Ball in the car. I'll tell him to bring it up front so you can lead the way and look for your friends."

Doc smiled gratefully. "Thanks, man."

Sam nodded in acknowledgement and got back into the truck. 

While Wrecking Ball started up the car, Doc turned to 10k and held his face in his hands, forcing him to look him in the eyes. "Kid, you think you could keep an eye out for Warren and the others while we drive?"

He still didn't look like he knew what was going on but his eyes did look a bit more focused than before. 10k nodded his head quickly. 

Doc copied his motion but slower. "Yeah? Think you can do that?" 10k's fast nodding continued. Doc smiled and patted his cheek softly. "Good kid." He took a step away and got into the passenger side of the car. 

10k got in the back behind Wrecking Ball, his body half out the window as he scanned their surroundings for any sign of the others.

Not that long later, 10k frantically hit the hood of the car before he slipped back into the back. He grabbed hold onto Doc's shoulder and shook him, pointing out the window once he was looking in his direction.

"What is it, boy?" Doc asked, voice higher in pitch. He turned and poked his head out of his window, looking off in the direction 10 was pointing. Just outside the treeline, he could make out the figures of Warren and Addy. "Good job, 10k!" 

He turned to congratulate the kid but 10k was already climbing out of the car window and throwing himself onto the road. 

Doc gaped. "STOP THE CAR!" He hissed at Wrecking Ball, who slammed the brakes. Doc was momentarily worried 10k was hurt but then he saw him jump up and run over to Warren and Addy and he let out a breath of relief.

10k skidded to a stop in front of the girls, furrowing his brows as he looked around and behind them as if he was confused that it was only them.

Doc soon joined them, jogging over to where they stood at the side of the road. He gave each of them a hug when close enough. 

Warren pulled away from Doc's hug and cast a worried glance to 10k. "What's up with him?" They had seen 10k in a lot of different states over the past month but vacant was a new one.

Doc shrugged lightly. "I don't know." 

"Do you think it's something to do with Murphy?" Addy asked. 

The others took note on that 10k didn't react to hearing Murphy's name, something that seemed to happen constantly when 10k was in similar mindsets in the past.

Warren scoffed. "It's _always_ to do with Murphy. Where is he, anyway?" 

"I don't know. I think 10k was tracking him for a bit earlier but then he just stopped and he's been kinda spacey ever since." Doc replied, looking at 10k. He decided not to mention that 10k tried to bite him, or that he saw him go psycho while attacking the blaster.

Addy waved her hand in front of 10k's face a few times but he barely reacted. 

"So we don't know where Murphy or Vasquez are?" Warren asked. 

Doc shook his head in reply and it made Warren frown. "Well, he couldn't have gotten too far. You think we should wait?"

Before Warren could reply, Sam walked over. "I don't know if waiting is the smartest idea, Doc. Blasters are all around us."

Warren rose a brow at the new man. "Blasters?"

"Those crazy Z's that attacked us, killed by the blast," Doc explained.

Warren nodded slowly. "Damnit, Murphy." She sighed. "We can wait an hour, then get on the road." 

Sam tensed his jaw. "Fine." He didn't look too pleased about that plan. "If we get attacked, we are leaving you lot behind."

Warren forced a smile. "Fair enough." 

Just as the group walked back over to the vehicles, 10k started freaking out. He was gasping for air as if he was being choked and his eyes were wide and unfocused, pupils morphing back into ones like the Z's. He was thrashing around and it looked like he had little control over his body. 

Warren and Addy had already walked off so it was up to Doc to hastily restrain 10k's arms and hold them still behind his back. "Calm down, kid! You're gonna hurt yourself!" 10k's legs still kicked and he snapped his teeth as if he was trying to bite the air.

Wrecking Ball rushed over when seeing the commotion and he thrust his hand toward 10k's face, a small something between his fingers. "Give him this! It'll make him relax!" 

Doc looked over 10k's shoulder and stared at the object in Wrecking Ball's hand. "Is that Weed?!"

Wrecking Ball nodded smugly. "Z Weed, man!"

Doc didn't have time to contemplate it, 10k was almost freeing himself from Doc's grasp. With an iron grip on 10k, Doc one-handedly got a lighter out from his pocket and chucked it over to Wrecking Ball.

Miraculously, Wrecking Ball caught it and he lit the Z Weed joint. He was about to press it to 10k's lips but 10k bit the air again and Wrecking Ball jumped back. 

Doc grumbled and grabbed the spliff, doing it himself. Once 10k inhaled a few times, he stopped fighting and pretty much melted in Doc's arms, letting out a heavy breath of smoke.

Doc rose a brow and pulled the joint away, taking a drag himself while 10k opened his eyes. He was relieved to see his pupils had returned to normal, and despite the daze that came with being high, 10k looked more focused. "Welcome back, kid. You good?"

10k furrowed his brows for a moment, standing up properly. He nodded dumbly and made a grab for the spliff. "More," 

Doc laughed and put the joint back between the younger man's lips. 

50 minutes later, Sam was telling his people to get ready to leave. Luckily, they hadn't been attacked while they waited around, but that didn't mean it was safe. 

During that time, Warren and Addy had been on lookout, walking around the semi-truck and searching the nearby trees. Less productively, Doc and 10k had hung around with Wrecking Ball as he told them all about Z Weed and where it came from. 

10k hadn't felt so chilled out before in his life, probably because he hadn't ever been high before today. And while the drug made him feel floaty and good, it also made him feel empty and somewhat sad, feeling as if he was suddenly aware that he was missing something but he didn't know what.

He was talking like usual, had more control than he had had in a while, and for once he wasn't on edge or anxious. But somehow he still felt.. _lonely_.

The more he tried to think about why he felt so bad, the worse he felt. So, he did the only thing he could think to do. He grabbed the remainder of the spliff from Doc and finished it off.

Slowly, Doc and 10k made their way over to where Warren and Addy stood. They could tell just from one look that 10k was high and Warren sent Doc a glare. "You gave him _drugs_?"

Doc shook his head. "Wrecking Ball did!" He slung an arm lazily over 10k's shoulders. "Kid needed a bit of mellow." He shrugged.

10k nodded along with his words. "Mhm, needed it." 

Warren didn't look convinced but having 10k semi-aware of his surroundings was a step up from usual so she didn't say anything else.

Sam approached the small group. "We 'bout to head out. Are you guys coming or what?" 

A part of Warren felt uneasy around Sam so she decided to trust her instincts and decline. "No. We gotta look for our friends. Thank you, though."

Sam nodded. "Good luck, then."

Before they could part ways, 10k perked up suddenly and shoved Doc's arm off of him. He squinted at the treeline and furrowed his brows in concentration, his whole body tensing. He looked like a cat about to pounce, it made the others on edge and uncertain about what was going to happen next. 

Narrowing his eyes even further, 10k let out an almost inaudible growl-like sound before he shot off sprinting toward the trees. 

"Uh-oh," Doc mumbled, earning a glare from the girls. 

"10k!" Addy took off running after him but he had gotten faster since the last time she had to do this and she wasn't even catching up.

Just as Warren rose her gun, preparing for whatever was coming out of the forest that 10k was so interested in, she caught sight of something blue. She lowered her weapon and shook her head in slight amusement. "Well, I'll be damned. Just in time."

While still a few feet away, 10k leapt in the air and threw himself onto Murphy at such a force that he stumbled back and almost fell over.

"Hello there-" Murphy let out a nervous chuckle, startled at the unexpected embrace. 10k had his arms wrapped around Murphy's neck tightly, his feet partially off the ground, and his face buried in the crook of Murphy's neck. Murphy awkwardly patted10k's back, trying to avoid looking at the others' surprised faces as they walked over.

He tried to pull 10k off of him but that resulted in 10k further tightening his grip and letting out another growl-like sound in protest, so Murphy sighed and let him stay in that position for a bit longer.

Murphy heard someone clear their throat and he looked to his right to see Vasquez staring at them with a brow raised in question. 

Murphy returned the look. "He has separation anxiety." He excused, patting 10k's back a few more times before prying him off of him. "Okay, okay, get off," He didn't mind the contact, but he didn't want 10k to get embarrassed because of how many people were around. 

This was the first proper time 10k had actually hugged Murphy as opposed to clinging to his arms or Murphy having an arm around his shoulders. Somehow it didn't feel right for it to happen with people watching. Maybe he was just overreacting because he's used to hearing 10k overanalyze everything to do with their connection. 

Now he was no longer hanging off of his neck, 10k was glaring at Murphy with a look so intense that Murphy felt slightly scared. 

It was now that Murphy realised he couldn't hear 10k at all. Well, he had known that their link had faded since he had yelled at 10k to _STAY AWAY_ for some reason, but it wasn't gone completely. He couldn't hear what 10k was saying but he could still sense his feelings.

With a quick glance around at everyone else, Murphy found that everyone was looking at him. "What?"

Warren had been about to ask where the hell Murphy had been but 10k once again interrupted. "Don't you _ever_ do that again!" He spat out, using his close proximity to Murphy to his advantage and shoving him backwards. 

Murphy was once again shocked by 10k. He blinked at him in bafflement. "What?" He repeated.

10k repeated the action, shoving Murphy back and even growling at him. Addy came up behind him and put a hand on her shoulder. "10k calm down,"

10k shook off her hand but he made no more attempts to attack Murphy. Instead, he spoke. "You know what. Don't do that, please." The plea was said in a different tone to the rest of his words, slightly shaky and laced with fear.

Murphy's gaze softened and he took a step closer to him, inwardly rolling his eyes when Warren took a step toward him in warning. He ignored her and put his hand on 10k's shoulder, thumb lightly touching the bite mark that he had given him. 

_I won't. I'm sorry._

Even with that small, barely anything touch, 10k experienced a rush of emotions as he felt their mental connection rebuilding itself. The cloudiness in his head cleared and he blinked a few times as he was able to focus better. 

With a slightly jerky nod of his head, 10k moved closer to Murphy, taking his place by his side and even wrapping an arm around his back. Murphy responded by draping his arm around 10k's shoulders. 10k let out a breath of relief as the emptiness he had felt inside him was refilled. 

This was new, the others weren't sure how to react, they just pretended not to notice although they couldn't help but steal glances. 

Warren cleared her throat. She had a _lot_ of questions about what had just happened but Murphy and 10k seemed to sort it out themselves and she felt like she shouldn't stir it up again. Though there was one thing she had to ask out of pure concern. "What did you do to 10k?"

Murphy looked like he was about to reply with his usual deflectiveness but 10k slightly lifted his head and Murphy turned to face him. They shared a silent conversation and then Murphy faced Warren again. "I locked 10k in his own mind." 

He could tell from the incredulous look on the others' faces, he was about to be yelled at, so he beat them to it and continued. 

"It was an accident! Vasquez pulled a trick on me and said he wanted to kidnap me and 10k again so I freaked out and did what I had to to make 10k stay away from me for his own safety." He received sceptical looks at his explanation. "I'm not an expert on mind control and sometimes I fuck up, okay? I accidentally locked 10k in his brain for a bit, but, hey! He's alright now!"

"That's because of the Z Weed!" Doc grinned. "Dang, Wrecking Ball's a genius!"

Murphy rose a brow and looked down at 10k. _Are you high?_ He hadn't sensed that, he wondered if the weed played a factor in their dulled connection.

10k's reply was to snicker quietly and hide his face in Murphy's side as his cheeks reddened in embarrassment. Murphy would definitely ask about that later.

Warren looked to Vasquez. "Your turn."

Vasquez rolled his eyes. "When we got split up, we found a village and decided to hide out there for a bit. Saw some bounty hunters so I had to improvise, make it obvious that Murphy was _my_ prisoner and not theirs." He narrowed his eyes in Murphy's direction. "It didn't work out and we got attacked. I had to fight off three guys while Murphy sat there and did nothing."

Addy nodded her head. "Sounds like Murphy."

Warren pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a sigh. "Okay, whatever. We're together again. Alive. That's all that matters."

Another person joined their conversation, Sam. He was staring directly at Murphy. "Are you.. _blue_?"

Doc laughed loudly, making some of the group jump. "I told you he was blue, man!" He put a hand on his stomach as he laughed. 

Doc laughing made 10k start to chuckle, once again reminding Murphy that 10k was high right now. He had been right when he said 10k was going through his rebellious phase. He felt a slap to his arm and he looked to the side to see 10k glaring. Maybe he thought that too loud.

"You got any more of that? What did you call it?" He looked between Doc and 10k.

"Z Weed," 10k mumbled, the words muffled due to the fact he was still burying himself against Murphy. Part of the reason why he was so clingy toward Murphy right now was because he _really_ didn't want to feel that aching loneliness he had felt when he lost the link with Murphy earlier. 

It made him realise just how _reliant_ he had become on their connection and being without it felt _wrong_. The Z Weed also played a part in 10k's clinginess, it made him care less about how unusual it was to act that certain way toward Murphy. It almost felt.. natural.

Murphy rose a brow when 10k didn't answer one of the questions. "You got any more?"

10k shook his head. "No.. Wrecking Ball might have some though."

"And where is he?"

10k started to tug Murphy away from the group and over to where Wrecking Ball sat in his car.

"We should get out of your hair," Warren said, turning to Sam. She shook his hand with a forced smile. "Thanks again for waiting with us." 

Sam nodded once. "No problem. You gonna be alright on your own?"

Warren's forced smile grew wider. "Yeah. Always are. Good luck out there."

Sam returned the fake smile. "You too."

Sam walked back over to his semi-truck and the group made their way over to the car so they could collect 10k and Murphy and get out of there.

Just as they reached the car, though, it sped off down the road. Warren stood back in shock, watching as a blue hand came out of the car window and waved at them.

"Son of a bitch!" Warren cursed, turning and running over to the last car. "GET IN!" She called out to the others, they barely made it inside the vehicle before she was speeding off after Murphy and 10k. 

Sam ran down the road behind them, helplessly waving his arms in the air. "THOSE ARE MY CARS!"

In the backseat of Warren's car, Doc turned to look out the back window just in time to see a horde of Blasters attack the survivors around the semi-truck, including Sam. 

Doc grimaced and faced the front, his voice shook when he spoke next. "Step on it, Warren! We got Blasters behind us!"


	11. AUTHORS NOTE

Hey it's been like a week since my last update and I just wanted to let you guys know that I am struggling a bit to keep writing as I upload these chapters as soon as I finish writing so it's a 'write as you go' kinda deal but yeah I'm struggling with writing at the minute so I apologise for the lengthy breaks between chapters but I will keep updating whenever I can

And I just want to say a big thank you for sticking along with this fic so far, it's my first Z Nation fic and I'm really having fun writing it! I can't wait for you guys to see what I've plotted out for this fic as it goes on longer


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